


This Will Be Our Year

by Spottedleafpaw



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Band Fic, College, F/F, F/M, M/M, New York City, Partying, Rivalry, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-01-24 23:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1621619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spottedleafpaw/pseuds/Spottedleafpaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Demigods, an up-and-coming rock group comprised of Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, and Leo Valdez, are about to go head to head with another popular group: the Half-Bloods, whose singer Piper McLean is the daughter of a famous movie star. Her bandmates, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, and Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, aren't anyone to mess with either. With the help of their personal manager Annabeth Chase, will the Demigods be able to survive a rivalry with a much more established band, along with the trials of college in New York City and matters of the heart? </p><p>College/Rock-Band AU, pairings stated. Find the accompanying 8tracks playlist here:<br/>http://8tracks.com/spottedleafpaw/this-will-be-our-year-fic-playlist</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Never Missed A Beat

**Author's Note:**

> Go to the link below for the 8tracks playlist that goes with the fic! 
> 
> http://8tracks.com/spottedleafpaw/this-will-be-our-year-fic-playlist
> 
> Chapter songs are:  
> I'm Not Over (the Demigods)  
> Synthetica (the Half-Bloods)
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy!

It’s not a common thing for many people to comprehend, that’s for sure. The thrill that comes along with setting up your equipment on stage, the lights shifting to focus onto you, the roar of the crowd as you take your place with perhaps a coy smile in their general direction. The jolt of electricity that comes with playing the first note, the adrenaline pumping through your veins as the music courses through your heart and out into the night. No, it wasn’t a common feeling, but it was something that those who were a part of bands like the three boys of the Demigods or the smash-hit group the Half-Bloods both could feel quite well. It never used to be anything as big as stadiums filled with cheering fans, no, it started out for them in much smaller doses and with much more rivalry. Before they became the next big thing, they hated each other with a passion, and this is their story...

*

Percy Jackson fought to stay awake in his Intro to Astronomy class, ballpoint pen lying capped and unused on top of a blank notebook as his professor droned on. Next to him, his girlfriend Annabeth Chase was scribbling feverishly into her own notebook and every once in awhile shooting him a glare that clearly stated ‘Pick up your goddamn pen and take your own notes.’ Percy ignored her, however, and tried to focus on keeping his eyelids from drooping by shifting them to the clock. Five more minutes and it’d be time to head out to lunch; that was all that kept him going, that and the promise of band practice later.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he waited for a moment where the professor had turned his back to scrawl something on the whiteboard with a green Expo marker before he pulled out his phone to peek at it. It was Jason, who had texted him in the group message he was a part of along with the rest of their close friends.

 **Jason Grace:** _How does Chinese food sound to you guys? Meet at Panda?_

Not too long after that did another message pop into the conversation before Percy could reply.

 **Leo Valdez:** _I’m down, just don’t let Grover get there first or he’ll swap all our food with soy shit._

 **Grover Underwood:** _STFU, I’m already there anyway ;)_

 **Percy Jackson:** _We’ll be there, Grover I swear to god..._

With that, Percy shoved his phone back in his pocket as the professor dismissed them shortly after, swiping his notebook and pen into his light backpack and turning towards Annabeth.

“We’re getting Panda together with the guys for lunch, sound good?” he asked her as she put away considerably more study materials than he did.

“Yeah, that’s fine, just remember I can’t stay long since I have that business call I need to make for you guys and then work on my blueprints,” she said, tastefully leaving out her annoyance with his shoddy note-taking skills in favor of grabbing his hand as they walked out of the classroom and began making their way across campus towards the Student Center.

“You do so much, I still don’t know how, but I love you for it!” he was a bit awed, kissing her on the cheek and reveling in the small smile it tugged to her lips as they walked.

Percy and Annabeth had been together since junior year of high school, despite having known each other for much longer. They, along with most of their friends, had all graduated from Athens High School in New York State, where they had all lived up until they had made their way to college at Columbia University. They were followed there by their friend Grover Underwood among other classmates from high school, although they saw less and less of each other as the school was rather large.

A year later, they were joined by Jason and Leo, who were a year younger than them but couldn’t wait to catch up and make it in college. The year wait was tough on Percy, and the reason was because he, Leo, and Jason had formed a rock band back in high school by the name of the Demigods. They started playing together in ninth grade for Percy, eighth for the younger two, and throughout the years increasingly improved and became something of a sensation in their town and surrounding areas. Percy played bass guitar, with Leo on drums while Jason took on the role of lead singer and lead guitar.

As Percy and Annabeth made their way through the crowded Student Center, he kept a lookout for his friends in the line or at any of the tables scattered through the dining areas. He spotted Grover almost immediately; Grover had a habit of standing out as his heavily curly hair was dreaded with a few beads threaded through it, and it was shoved every day or so in a different woven beanie. His goatee was curling under his chin a bit as he had already started chowing down on a burrito, forgoing the Asian food it seemed. Next to him was his newly established girlfriend Juniper, another nature freak as Percy affectionately dubbed them. She also had a few dreads in her amber hair which was dyed with a few streaks of green to match her eyes. She had threaded a few feathers in it, and wore flowery clothing almost constantly.

Percy waved over at them before he and Annabeth walked over to Panda Express in order to get their lunch. As they got in line, they spotted Jason and Leo a few moments later coming to join them. Leo’s curly dark hair was a bit windswept, and the mischievous glint in his eyes matched the silver barbell earring he had sticking through his right ear. He was wearing a dark red long sleeved shirt and distressed jeans with gray vans, his arms covered in leather bracelets as they always were. Jason on the other hand was wearing simple dark jeans and a dark purple hoodie over a white shirt, his converse looking scuffed as usual.

“Dudes, I’m so ready to practice the new song today I’m probably going to eat faster than Grover,” Leo quipped, an excited grin splayed on his features.

“Yeah, that riff you came up with goes really well with the overall beat, I can’t wait to get them all in action,” Percy replied honestly, nodding at Jason who smiled widely, stretching the scar across his lip as he did so.

“Remember I’m getting you that gig today no matter what, so you’d better practice the hell out of your old stuff today too,” Annabeth chastised as before she walked up to place her order and pay for her food with her student ID card.

“Your girlfriend is seriously the best,” Jason muttered, shaking his head a bit. Annabeth acted as their sort of personal manager and sound engineer, working on booking them for shows and combining her expertise with Leo in order to mix and master their music on all sorts of crazy computer programs that Percy didn’t understand fully but had a general idea of.

“Then you should get one just as awesome, it’s about time don’t you think?” Percy grinned, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Jason. He and Leo both snickered before he walked forward and ordered his food, swiping his ID card to charge some of the dining dollars he used to pay.

He and Annabeth waited with their food for Leo and Jason to join them before they headed back over to where Grover was still sitting with Juniper. Percy took a seat next to him and caught a whiff of weed as Grover turned towards him to peruse what was on his plate.

“Ahh, man! How can you eat this stuff?” Grover whined, pointing to Percy’s plateful of sweet and sour chicken. “Those animals were alive once!”

“Yeah, and they served their purpose well to become my tasty lunch,” Leo snarked back before shoving an entire shrimp coated in soy sauce in his mouth. Even Percy had to wrinkle his nose at that; Percy made a point to avoid eating seafood whenever he could, since his dad worked as a big-time maritime tycoon and in general fish was something Percy couldn’t stomach. Percy himself was studying Oceanography which was another reason he hated the thought of eating seafood... He simply knew too much about it.

They finished their lunch all together in contented joking around and complaining about classes as normal college kids would; the only difference was that on occasion groups of students who passed them would stop and do a double take before whispering to one another. The Demigods were a popular enough group among some of the resident hipsters and crazy fangirls for a lot of Columbia to recognize the members, especially when they were all three together. Jason got the worst of it, normally; as frontman, he was the most recognizable, and from time to time a group of giggling fangirls might approach him and ask for a picture or even a date if they were bold enough. Percy never understood why he didn’t take them up on their offers, but he also knew that Jason wasn’t the type of guy to go out with someone just like that.

Percy himself would get recognized a few times but Annabeth was normally by his side and the girls wouldn’t do anything too pushy under her steely gaze. Leo was the least remembered, and sometimes Percy wondered if it got to him; as drummer, he was in the back and behind a large instrument that blocked him off from whatever crowd was there viewing them. If Leo ever got recognized it was mostly by fellow musicians or guys who appreciated his ‘mad drumming skill’ or something like that. Percy supposed that all this male attention was probably why Leo was comfortable coming out as bisexual to his bandmates one evening.

Once they were all packed up and ready, they left the Student Center in a group before beginning to make their way off campus and towards the bus stop. They all lived off campus in an apartment complex that was honestly not too far by walking distance, which basically made the whole place a sort of student housing without actually being for the students. Tons of others attending the University lived in this complex, and every weekend it turned into a rather rowdy area for parties and all sorts of crazy shenanigans. After hopping off the bus and into the building, they clambered into an elevator hurriedly as they wanted to get to their instruments as soon as possible.

“You coming to practice today guys?” Jason asked Grover and Juniper, whose apartment was a few levels above their own.

“Yeah, dude, we’ll probably swing by after a little something,” Grover grinned, miming holding a joint and sucking on it with his fingertips as Juniper laughed. Leo pouted, muttering about being left out while Annabeth rolled her eyes and hopped off the elevator followed by the three other boys. She pulled her key out of her bag and unlocked their apartment door, heading straight for the room she and Percy shared.

“I’m going to get on that phone call and work on some homework, so you guys have fun. If I get done before you, I’ll come join you alright?” she said, backtracking quickly and kissing Percy before entering the room and shutting the door. Percy’s lips tingled a bit from where her own had touched his, but that seemed to always happen when they kissed; four years of dating still did that to him, so he supposed he was lucky. Annabeth wanted to be an architect, so her homework was really important to her and it didn’t bother him if she missed their band practice a few times. Hell, she made up for it with all the other things she did for them as a band.

Their apartment wasn’t really as messy as one would expect, with three boys living there. Annabeth saw to it that they established roommate rules which were posted on a large whiteboard lest they forget; also on the board were weekly chore requirements, such as dishes and laundry and trash runs. The kitchen was usually the most messy of the common areas, but only because three boys living together meant that someone would be eating something at some point no matter what.

Percy set his backpack outside the closed door to his and Annabeth’s shared room while Leo and Jason tossed their stuff in their room; they had to share one as it was only a two-bedroom apartment, so they maximized on space with a bunk bed that was probably one of the greatest ideas ever at first, until they realized how awkward it was going to get if either of them brought someone home or worse, got a significant other.

Jason grabbed his guitar and slung it over his shoulder, while Leo only had a small bag filled with drumsticks and other paraphernalia that he used to tune his kit, and Percy suddenly realized his bass guitar was still in his room. Smacking himself in the forehead, he quietly opened the door and snuck in; Annabeth was already on the phone and she shot him a glare, but laughed at something the other person said in her business-like fashion that she only used for situations like this.

“Of course, they’d love to be the headliners! It’s not a problem, though, even if another band wants to share the slot with them...” she continued to schmooze the person on the other end of the line. Percy grabbed his bass guitar and stared at his girlfriend as she tucked the phone in between the crook of her neck while gathering up her curly hair into a messy ponytail, muttering small ‘mhmms’ every once in awhile as the person continued to talk to her. Percy couldn’t resist, so he ducked forward and planted a kiss on her cheek and then trailed his lips along her now exposed neck, causing her to intake a sharp breath before biting her lip and smacking him, playful gray eyes meeting his own. She mouthed ‘get going!’ before he chuckled and backed out of the room, instrument in tow.

“Geez, Perce, you’re all over the place today!” Jason joked, and Percy rolled his eyes before following him out if the apartment. They couldn’t practice in their apartment complex due to noise levels, of course, so they rented out a small little practice space which included a storage room for all their equipment not too far from there; they normally took the subway, but sometimes Jason drove. Today was one of those days, and so they piled into Jason’s car and made their way over to The Band Camp, which was often buzzing with other local bands who were there for the same reason as they were. None were quite as well known as the Demigods, however, and so every time they came to rehearse they attracted a decent crowd of fellow musicians and their groupies once the word got out.

“Hey dudes! Got anything sick planned for that new tune today?” Will, the current employee on duty (and oftentimes the only employee on duty) greeted them as they came in, tossing them their storage room key and following them out from behind the booth in order to open up one of the practice rooms.

“We hope so, you’re welcome to come in and listen a bit if you’re not too busy!” Jason replied, already rolling the equipment cart over to their room as Leo unlocked the door to begin grabbing his drum kit.

“I tapped out another cool beat today in math class, I can’t wait to try it out!” he said, darting back and forth with his stuff almost faster than they could keep track of him. Leo had a form of severely established ADHD, and drumming was an outlet for it that kept him in check rather well. As Percy and his bandmates set up their practice room and he put together his bass guitar’s pedal board, he mused over the supposed future gig that he heard Annabeth talking about.

“I overheard Annabeth on the phone to whoever she was booking the gig for, she was saying something about us being headliners!” he began, watching as Leo’s face lit up and Jason grinned at him from behind the mic he was attaching to the stand.

“That’s awesome! Did you get anything else?” Jason asked into the mic, the sound coming on halfway through and reverberating through the room causing Percy to jump a bit.

“She did say something about another band maybe sharing the spot with us, but I’m not sure who they are or what the deal is,” Percy continued as he fixed his amp behind him and attached his bass to it. Leo frowned and, having finished setting up his kit in record time, pulled his drumsticks out of his bag and smashing them across the snare rather rapidly.

“Dude, we don’t need to share with anyone else! We’re badass enough by ourselves!” he griped.

“Yeah, well this sounds like a good gig so I’m not going to turn it down,” Jason said with finality, hooking up his guitar and giving it a couple of tweaks to get the tuning back in order. He had a rather vintage Fender Jaguar, from the ‘60s, while Percy’s was a Fender Jazz bass of a newer year. Leo’s kit was a Gretsch Renown Euro 4-piece shell kit, with black and red accents, and he used Zildjan cymbals.

As they finished setting up, they immediately turned to Jason waiting for instruction. He furrowed his brow slightly as he thought of which songs to start with, before settling on one and beginning to play the chords on his guitar as a hint to his bandmates. They always started practice this way, with Jason having them guess which song he wanted to start warming up with and then getting into it all together. As they began to all play the song together from the top, Jason’s voice entering as the first sets of lyrics flowed freely from his lips, Percy exchanged a look with Leo that showcased their shared curiosity and concern for whoever might be sharing the stage with them at this upcoming gig.

*

Piper McLean took a swig from her water bottle before gesturing for her bandmates to stop for a second as she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. Pulling the thin, flat device out and swiping the screen to answer it, she recognized the number as the main booking coordinator of the establishment she and her band were trying to play at in the next few weeks.

“This is Piper McLean,” she answered, immediately businesslike.

“Piper? Oh, good, I can tell you the news in person! I’m just calling to let you know that there shouldn’t be any problems with the show like we originally thought, and that you’re slotted to share the headliner spot with another band for the evening we discussed,” the man on the phone explained. Piper shot a thumbs up to her bandmates, but frowned a bit at the last piece of news.

“Sharing the slot? How is that going to work exactly?” she asked, crossing her arm across her waist.

“It’s up to the both of you to coordinate, although our suggestion is allowing for your group to go last and this other band to go first... However, our records show that your group does not have a drum kit while they do, which could be problematic in moving it off the stage before you go on. However, we do know that your... connections, shall we say, will allow for you to be a crowd favorite...” the man continued, and Piper had to hold back an exasperated sigh.

“Just organize it how you see fit. One more thing, though, who is this other band we’re going to be playing with?” she asked, curious.

“They’re called the Demigods, they’re pretty popular around here in New York... Look ‘em up!” the guy on the phone said, before hanging up. Piper clicked her phone back into sleep mode and shoved it into her pocket before turning back to her bandmates, who had all seemingly heard and understood the conversation fairly well.

“So we’re sharing the spot then?” Frank Zhang, the bassist, asked somewhat nervously. His girlfriend Hazel Levesque frowned slightly but began playing a soft melody on her keyboard in order to ease the tension rolling off of their guitarist, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, who gripped her instrument tightly before tossing her dark braid over he shoulder in a huff.

“Why didn’t we get the spot all to ourselves? Are we not good enough? Who do these jerkoffs think they are?” she began muttering, while Piper simply shrugged. Truth be told, she was somewhat glad that her band was going through hardship and not getting everything easily and handed to them on a silver platter. They could, if they really wanted to; her father was famous actor Tristan McLean, and he could simply call in a favor any day to an acquaintance of his and Piper’s band would shoot to superstardom quicker than a flash.

Piper believed in working for her success, however, so she adamantly refused every time her father offered to help her out, and mostly the press forgot that she existed due to her influence over him. She and her friends all attended the same boarding school growing up, and had all formed a band together as a result of Piper’s desire to make something of herself that wasn’t under her father’s limelight. They called themselves the Half-Bloods as each member wasn’t fully one ethnicity. Originally from Canada, Frank Zhang had joined her little endeavor along with Hazel Levesque, later his girlfriend, who hailed all the way from New Orleans. Reyna was Puerto Rican and a year older than them, but she joined up out of the strong feelings she had of being better at something than her older sister, who was supposedly quite well off and considered some sort of social royalty among the women powerhouses of New York City.

They were joined by Hazel’s half brother Nico di Angelo after some persuasion; he took up the title of synthesist, using all sorts of technological equipment to create various cool sounds and beats which substituted their need for a drummer. Once they had all finished school, they had applied to NYU and had been accepted, which is where they all attended school as of now. Piper’s dad spared no expense when it came to moving their band life to New York; Hazel and Nico’s father was also quite wealthy, and he chipped in by paying for most of their living arrangements. Nico and Frank shared a small apartment together while Piper, Hazel, and Reyna lived in the same complex in another one. Piper’s father bought them a rehearsal area and studio that used to be a small garage of sorts and had it converted with all the latest equipment, which served as their general base of operations almost every day.

Piper gripped the microphone stand in front of her before coughing a bit to get the other band members’ attention. She wasn’t going to let another band show her up that night, they had worked hard to get that slot and despite whatever issues they’d face she planned to come out on top that night.

“I don’t know who these people are, and frankly it doesn’t matter. We’re still going to put on a kickass show and be the talk of the night, but we gotta practice if that’s what we want to happen. Let’s try that new one we were working on, see what comes of it...” she finished with a nod, and Nico pressed a button on his main synth before the rest jumped in and Piper began to sing.


	2. How Do You Do It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth reflects on getting the boys their show; Hazel & Frank have an encounter in a coffee shop; Reyna has a staring contest; the Half-Bloods scope out their competition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to the link below for the 8tracks playlist that goes with the fic!
> 
> http://8tracks.com/spottedleafpaw/this-will-be-our-year-fic-playlist
> 
> Chapter Songs are:  
> Center of Gravity (Nico di Angelo 'The Ghost King')  
> Easy Way Out (the Demigods)
> 
> Enjoy!

Annabeth Chase gazed thoughtfully at the stack of blueprints in front of her, then longingly towards the living room of the apartment where the boys were all gathered as they watched something together on Netflix while finishing the remains of the dinner they had cooked. From the angle of her desk she could make out her boyfriend Percy’s form as he was sitting on the couch, arm propping up his head while he snacked on some blue tortilla chips with salsa. It had been Mexican food night in their household, and thus Leo had taken charge of most of the cooking as he was their resident Hispanic. Having lived in Houston for most of his life until the death of his mother, he had only moved up to New York state to live with a much older half-sister and half-brother when he was in around 6th grade; that was when he met Jason, and later became friends with Percy and Annabeth as a result.

Glancing once more at the stack of homework she had only halfway completed, Annabeth resolved that she could get to it later (it wasn’t due until next Tuesday) and so she got up and walked over to Percy, who tore his gaze from the TV to smile at her and hold his arms open for her. She was welcomed into his warm embrace, snuggling into him and stealing a chip from the bag in front of him before she turned her eyes to the screen as well.

“Slacking off, eh?” Percy whispered to her with a playful glint in his sea-colored eyes.

“As always,” she replied sarcastically. “So you’re happy with how everything’s going, then?” she asked, in reference to her securing the gig for them a bit earlier on that day.

“Yeah, I know Leo was a bit pissy about having to share the stage with someone else, but what’re you gonna do...” Percy spoke softly, but not softly enough as Leo’s elf-like ears perked up at the sound of his name.

“You know I can hear you guys, right?” he contributed from the armchair he was sitting in.

“Whatever, it’s a good show and I’m sure you’ll get a great crowd and more buzz from it,” Annabeth chose to ignore Leo’s quip and sat up a little straighter.

“You’re about to reach 2,500 likes on your Facebook page, that’s not something to joke about,” she added.

Annabeth was in charge of managing the social media as well as managing their overall band, which was a task in of itself. Jason and even Juniper helped her out from time to time, of course, and that was appreciated, but Annabeth still felt like she was doing the most of the work on top of being in college and in a steady relationship. Add on a part-time job and she’d probably have caved under the pressure of it all.

The only ones among them who actually had part-time jobs were Percy and Leo, with Percy working as a TA in the Oceanography department and Leo at the closest coffee shop down the street from their apartment. Jason’s family was pretty well off, so he didn’t really need to make any money and was always around to help with chores more than the others; plus, his major was Meteorology, which wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, so he spent time not focused on the band figuring out his classwork and studying.

Leo had enrolled alongside Jason earlier that year in order to study Mechanical Engineering, which was extremely taxing but he was well up to the challenge. The fact that his father was one of the top of the same profession only inspired him to be on par with his dad, of course, but money was tight for him and thus he worked serving cappuccinos to the cranky New York middle class in order to pay his way through school in part. His mother’s death had left him shaken, but he pressed on with a devilish grin on his face despite it all.

Annabeth’s own boyfriend Percy was working in part to help his mother, Sally, pay for his college expenses since arguably they weren’t the most well off either. Annabeth admired him for trying to support his mom and stepfather who tried their best in turn to work and make college as smooth as possible for Percy while he turned around and did the exact same thing for them. It was a circle of emotions that Annabeth didn’t really understand fully as her dad paid for her school no problem, but she was able to admire the sentiment behind it all.

As the episode of whatever show they had been watching came to a close, Annabeth nudged Percy in the side and made to stand up, jerking her head towards their room. Percy blinked and immediately stood up with her and followed her into the room; they didn’t fail to catch Jason and Leo snickering at them as they left, immature as they were. Shutting the door behind them, Percy wasted no time in running after Annabeth and tackling her onto their bed before smothering her with kisses. She let out a breathy laugh and reciprocated, running her fingers through his hair.

“I’m so glad you got that gig for us, babe, you really are Superwoman,” he muttered into her skin.

“I think you mean Wonder Woman, but you’re welcome,” she replied with a smirk. Percy rolled his eyes before capturing her lips in a kiss and they fell together as they tended to do quite often when something good happened in the day.

*

Hazel and Frank could often be found on their morning walk to campus holding hands with steaming cups of coffee gripped tightly in the other. This morning was no different, as they had emerged from their local Starbucks with their drink of choice, backpacks slung over their shoulders as they made their way to the NYU campus.

“So what do you think about this other band sharing the spot with us? Reyna looked pretty upset,” Frank prompted as he took a sip from the hot mocha in the hand that wasn’t holding Hazel’s.

“I think she’s right to be a little miffed, but I’m sure it’ll be a good show regardless,” Hazel replied. That morning she had her curly golden hair pushed back by a deep red headband that complimented her dark skin wonderfully. She was always considered a bit old-fashioned, and her friends always joked that she should have lived in the forties due to some of her mannerisms. She was lucky to have a boyfriend who thought all her actions were cute; she herself found the half-Asian with his hand clutched in her own to be a great catch, so she wasn’t complaining.

“Piper looked relieved if you ask me,” she added after a while of walking, pausing to take a sip of her own latte.

“Probably worried about too much fame all at once or something.” Frank snorted in appreciation of her comment, taking another sip before letting go of her hand briefly to shove his hand in his pocket for his phone, presumably. When his hand came up empty, Hazel sighed and looked at her watch.

“Lucky we’re still a bit early,” she said with a stern tone, although her eyes betrayed her amusement. Frank was a bit of an airhead when it came down to it, and so they turned around to retrace their steps back to the coffee shop. Once inside, they walked up towards the counter to catch the attention of the barista on duty.

“Excuse me, did you happen to find a cell phone in here somewhere?” Frank asked. The barista was a young Hispanic guy with an earring who seemed to be about their age, and had just started his shift as they hadn’t seen him earlier when they came in for their coffee in the first place.

“Oh, you mean... This phone?” the barista pulled one from the shelf under the register he was standing at, waving it in front of them. Frank let out a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Thank yo-”

“You’ve gotta prove it’s yours before I can give it back to you,” the barista said with a somewhat mischievous glint in his elfin-like face. Frank sputtered a bit, and Hazel felt herself getting irritated.

“Listen, we have class in just a bit so we really need to get going...” she started, but was cut off again by the barista.

“Yeah, and I’ve got coffees to serve the people in line behind you. You could be coming in here just to take someone else’s phone. I didn’t make the rules, hon,” he continued, seeming to be enjoying this all too much.

“Okay then...” she squinted at his name tag, “Leo. How about I call the phone. Will you believe me then?” she said a bit viciously, whipping out her own cell before hitting Frank’s number and watching the phone in Leo the barista’s hand light up with her face and name.

“Looks like you get your phone back today, big guy!” Leo joked, handing Frank his phone and grinning at the two of them.

“It was nice talking to you, Hazel,” he added, winking at her after using the name he had seen on Frank’s phone screen. Hazel felt color rise to her cheeks in a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. Before her boyfriend could retort or turn any redder in the process, she grabbed his hand pointedly and dragged him out of the Starbucks.

“The nerve of that idiot!” she exclaimed once they were far enough along their route back to campus that she felt comfortable talking. Frank’s lips were set in a thin line as he gripped her hand tightly, shaking his head.

“Some people have nothing better to do in their days... Thanks for being so kickass about that, though,” Frank said softly, embarrassment evident in his tone as he addressed the fact that Hazel as usual takes control of situations like those.

“It’s not a big deal, he deserved it,” Hazel said with a shrug. She hoped their future morning coffee runs wouldn’t involve this particular barista, as she didn’t feel like interacting with him ever again. They finally arrived on campus just in time to head off to their respective classes, Frank to his History 101 and Hazel to her Introduction to Geology. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him quickly as they parted ways, enjoying the pink tint it left on his cheeks.

In a building not too far from where Hazel and Frank’s classes were being held, Reyna was curled up on one of the chairs in the library with her books open and scattered around her. She was studying for an upcoming Anthropology class which she was fearing would kick her ass this semester. Sighing in frustration, she tugged on her dark hair which was in its traditional braid before looking around at the other people in the library to distract herself a bit.

While Reyna loved people watching from time to time, she was normally disappointed with her findings as nobody was really interesting enough for her to maintain focus on for too long and she’d find herself back to studying in no time. That morning, however, her eyes were instantly drawn to a girl sitting a few tables away from her. She had spiky black hair and a few piercings from what it looked like, and wore a silvery streak in her hair. She wore dark clothing looking like some sort of goth, which was always intriguing to look at in Reyna’s opinion. However, she was staring rather blatantly and for too long as the girl suddenly raised her eyes, electric blue eyes, to meet Reyna’s.

Reyna blinked and rapidly flicked her eyes to the side, pretending to be focused on something behind the girl; it was too late, however, as she caught the goth smirk and delve back to the book in front of her. Reyna mentally cursed and furiously scribbled something into her notebook before chancing to look up again. Sure enough, the girl was staring back at her, and Reyna simply drew her lips into a thin line and attempted at smiling this time, realizing just how ridiculous she was being.

She was able to rightfully disengage from her staring contest when her phone buzzed a few minutes later, and she swiped at the screen in order to read the text message from Piper.

 **Piper McLean:** _Recon meeting at the computing center to check out the competition!_

Reyna huffed a little, beginning to type out her reply with perhaps a tad more viciousness than usual in light of her feeling the girl’s eyes still on her.

 **Reyna ARA:** _What time? Lunch?_

 **Piper McLean:** _Whenever you’re all done with class and have time. I don’t have anything until the afternoon :)_

 **Frank Zhang:** _I’ll be there after this class._

 **Hazel Levesque:** _Frank, pay attention! Same in any case._

 **Nico di Angelo:** _I could say the same for you, sis. I’m already at the computing center, I’ll go stake out a bigger table._

Reyna smirked at the responses she got from her friends before beginning to pack her stuff up in order to meet Nico in the center as he was working on some cool new solo tunes that she was interested in listening to. Nico had a habit of being a loner, and he joined their group only because Hazel had asked nicely. Nico lent his talents on the synth to them out of pure boredom from what Reyna could tell, although deep down he enjoyed what he did and knew he was good at it. His solo work delved deeper into the dubstep and house genre, and on many occasions he would take samples from the other band members’ instruments to weave in and distort into his tracks. Piper oftentimes provided guest-vocals too, which turned the songs into more anthemic electronic works that Reyna half expected to hear cropping up in the more popular clubs sooner or later.

Reyna also admired Nico because he, much like herself, had come out of the closet as gay and was pretty much the only person she felt remotely comfortable to when it came to talking about such things. Reyna wasn’t embarrassed per se, simply unable to really broach the topic with anyone else she knew; plus Nico was quite level-headed and often blunt, another thing they had in common.

As Reyna finished packing up her stuff and stood, she debated on whether taking the route that would have her pass the girl she had been staring at in order to get to the computing center or turning on her heel and walking around the situation. Steeling herself, she swung her backpack over her shoulder and marched forward bravely; it was a big campus, she’d probably never see this girl again in her life, so what’s the harm in it? As she passed her, however, the girl gave her a wide grin that almost caused her heart to stutter and she wondered if perhaps seeing this girl again wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

Upon reaching the computing center, she spotted Nico almost immediately thanks to his rather large headphones and extensive computer gear setup across most of one of the tables. He also had an eyebrow piercing and two of the lower snakebite piercings, and on top of that his ears were decked out in quite a few assorted earrings. That, and the fact that he wore dark clothing and his aviator jacket almost every day made him easy to find in a crowd if you knew him. She plopped down next to him causing him to flick his eyes over to her and pull one headphone off his ear.

“You look bitchier than usual,” he commented dryly, and rather than get upset with him Reyna only made a sour face.

“There was a staring contest involved with a cute girl in the library, don’t ask,” she muttered, and Nico managed to smirk slightly before pulling off his headphones and passing them to her.

“I’ve been working on another track, it’s a bit more heavy than the rest... What d’you think?” he asked her, the nervousness in his eyes present for a mere second. She took the headphones and covered her ears with them, and Nico pressed the spacebar on his computer which started the music. It started out with a few tranquil notes, picking up about 10 seconds in with some drum beats; throughout the entire track, however, Reyna could pick up some serious creepy undertones that sent a chill down her spine. When the bass started up, it was vicious and like a punch to the gut, and Reyna couldn’t help but feel like it suited the song (and her current mood) perfectly. She found herself bobbing her head along to the music and getting into it.

“It’s really sick, man, I like it a lot!” she hissed to him as she pulled off one of the ears in order to hear his response. He simply ducked his head in a sign of thanks and stopped the track, motioning for her to give his headphones back as he unplugged them.

“What, the Ghost King is starting on new stuff?” Piper had just arrived, coming up to them and sitting on the other side of Nico with a grin. Her hair was a bit more windswept than usual, which only added to the choppiness that came with her cutting it herself whenever she felt like it. It was dotted with a few small braids here and there, and with the longest came attached a few beads and a feather. She was wearing an eighties-style windbreaker and skinny jeans, worn combat boots coming over them.

“Next song I’ve got planned will have lyrics for you, I promise,” Nico said with a small smile. His solo artist name in fact was the ‘Ghost King’ due to his penchant for melting into the shadows and fascination with anything macabre. Plus, he looked the part, despite being half Italian. Piper grinned at him, fist pumping a bit before nudging him.

“Alright, let’s look up our competition then, shall we?” she prompted. Hazel and Frank weren’t there yet, but they could still look at one or two videos of these Demigods without them. Nico pulled up a browser and typed their name in the search bar, but without context all he got was a bunch of old Greek and Roman mythology from Wikipedia. Scowling, he tried again with the words ‘band’ attached to the end and this time had more success. A Facebook page, Youtube channel, and various pictures and interviews came up with this search. Nico clicked on the Facebook page first, bringing up their stats.

“Over 2,500 likes. For an up-and-coming band, that’s not bad,” he muttered, and Piper nodded her head grudgingly.

“Especially if they’ve only ever played in the New York area,” Reyna hissed, biting her lip. Nico clicked on their ‘About Me’ section and began reading their bio.

“‘A dynamic and powerful alt-rock group of three friends, not coworkers. Funky influences that can turn hardcore with the passing of a beat, the Demigods have been around for over 6 years, officially playing as a group for 4. Comprised of lead singer and lead guitarist Jason Grace, bassist Percy Jackson, and drummer Leo Valdez, they pack a punch you’ll welcome with open arms as you fall into their sound’.... Who wrote this? Ugh...” Nico grimaced, clicking on some pictures next.

Reyna’s breath hitched simultaneously along with both Piper and Nico’s as the three boys came into view on Nico’s laptop screen. They were all quite attractive, but Reyna’s eyes strayed for a bit longer on the boy in the front, whose blonde hair and electric blue eyes seemed to captivate her despite her inclination to only like girls. Her eyes flicked over to the boy with the black hair and sea-green eyes, feeling a flush creep up on her cheeks as she studied him too. ‘ _What is wrong with me?_ ’ she thought to herself, pinching her knee in order to come back to reality.

She turned to stare at Nico, whose eyes glinted with something akin to admiration, although Reyna couldn’t tell which of the boys he was looking at. He was a lot paler than usual, however, and his lips drew into a thin line as he began chewing on the bottom one thoughtfully, sucking in on one of the snakebites in his skin. Piper on the other hand had a slight pink coloring to her skin, kaleidoscope eyes flashing resolutely.

“Okay, so they’re all pretty attractive. That’s sure to be a crowd pleaser, but can they actually play their instruments?” Piper asked as if to lift their spirits.

“They’re probably all just a bunch of pretty-boy wannabes,” Reyna muttered, while Nico clicked next on their Youtube channel and pulled up their latest video. It was a concert-filmed footage music video, with lots of shots coming from the crowd and some panning to show the expansive amount of people there, cheering and screaming. The boys seemed to glow with a stage presence that Reyna envied, playing their instruments flawlessly and with undeniable skill. The tune was upbeat and the lead singer, Jason it seemed, started off slowly with an almost whisperlike quality to his voice before the chorus hit and he shot up to some impressive vocal high notes.

“This is who we’re playing with?” Frank and Hazel had appeared behind them, staring at the computer screen behind them. Hazel was biting her lip nervously and squinting at the screen while Frank’s expression was impressed while downcast at the same time.

Reyna nodded grimly before turning her attention back to the video. The bassist, Percy, was doing some pretty impressive maneuvers but Reyna’s main focus was on the technique of Jason on his electric guitar. She couldn’t tell from the video, but he seemed to have tons of useful pedals on his board that gave him the options for all sorts of guitar effects; to top it off, he executed it all flawlessly. Their drummer Leo was now onscreen, grinning elfishly and winking despite the intense beat he was keeping up with.

“Whoa... Pause it, pause it! No, it can’t be...” Hazel nudged her half-brother who obliged, pausing the video on the drummer’s face, curly hair flying to the beat of his drumsticks.

“Nah, it’s just a coincidence,” Frank muttered, and Hazel seemed to grudgingly accept whatever they were talking about. Nico selected another video, and this time the tune was much more gritty and hardcore rock style. Reyna couldn’t believe how versatile this group was, seemingly able to cater to everyone’s music tastes in each of their songs. Plus, Jason’s vocal skills were outstanding. Piper seemed to think so too, as she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted a bit.

“How can he change his voice to fit each song so well? I thought that was MY deal... Plus he can play guitar too...” she mumbled, looking a bit put out. Reyna shot her a sympathetic look; Piper always had some self-confidence issues when it came to her role in the group, as her best skill was only that of singing and she didn’t really play an instrument. The fact that Jason was able to not only sing (and quite well) while also playing lead guitar must have given her an inferiority complex.

“Pipes, your voice is extremely versatile and you can sing in French. You’re definitely cooler than this guy,” Frank offered, but Piper didn’t seem all that convinced.

“We’ll just have to show them what we’re made of, that’s for sure. The crowds will be there for us, not these losers,” Reyna huffed, making eye contact with the rest of her bandmates in turn until they all nodded at her. When she met Nico’s eyes, however, she noticed that something still seemed to be troubling him and she wondered if she should ask him about it; he turned back to his computer, however, and started to close all the windows with anything Demigods-related.

“See you all at practice, okay?” he muttered, shoving his stuff into his computer bag and slinging it over his shoulder before rushing off to class. Piper didn’t seem to notice anything off, and she simply prodded Reyna about getting lunch while Hazel and Frank argued about something under their breath. Reyna nodded absentmindedly and got up to follow Piper, wondering just what lie in store for them at this show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we are, new chapter already! Please let me know what you all think, and if there's any confusion about anything at all. :)
> 
> Comments are super appreciated, anything makes my day! :3


	3. The Cruelest Joke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico reflects on his predicament with the competition; it's Jason's turn to stalk the Half-Bloods, and he reveals new lyrics to his bandmates; Frank gets some news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to the link below for the 8tracks playlist that goes with the fic!
> 
> http://8tracks.com/spottedleafpaw/this-will-be-our-year-fic-playlist
> 
> Chapter Songs are:  
> Heartbreak (Nico di Angelo 'The Ghost King' feat. Piper McLean)  
> In My Head (the Demigods)
> 
> Enjoy!

As Nico di Angelo finally made it into the apartment he shared with Frank, he made a beeline for his room and dropped his equipment on his desk before slumping onto his bed with a noticeable frown on his face. He chewed his lip as he tended to do when mulling something over before deciding to pull out his phone and do some good old-fashioned social media stalking. Ever since checking out their competition earlier, Nico had the sinking feeling that he’d be in for some problems at this upcoming gig, and he was about to prove himself right once he pulled up the Facebook app on his phone and typed in the name of one of the band members.

He let out a groan as his fears were confirmed, tossing the phone to the side before reaching into the pocket of his aviator jacket and pulling out a set of regular earbuds, sticking them in his ears and selecting some aggressive dubstep from a playlist on his phone. ‘Just my luck...’ he mused to himself, closing his eyes and replaying the moments from earlier on since he moved to New York.

He was standing in line in a coffee shop, a regular Starbucks that was at a decent walking distance from the campus he’d be attending classes at. The location was also close to his apartment, which was good because he didn’t have his car and definitely didn’t want to risk bringing it into the world of New York traffic. Reyna was the only one out of their entire group who had access to a vehicle, and since public transportation was fairly developed Nico assured her he wouldn’t ever bother her for it.

As people continued to move up in line, he noticed there was only one person on duty at the cash register while only one other barista whirled around behind the bar making drinks. A third barista was dividing his time between the two positions, alternatively asking customers in the line for their order and marking cups down and rushing off to help the employee on bar with making the drinks as the line of cups increased. Nico watched in amusement as this boy worked, looking like a whirlwind of energy as he darted between places.

“Can I get something started for you?” he called out suddenly, and Nico realized he was being addressed. At first he stared for a moment, mesmerized by the Hispanic barista’s elfin features and admiring his tanned skin tone before he came to terms with the fact that he was staring and that wasn’t normal. Blinking a bit, he glanced at the menu behind the boy’s head briefly before making his decision.

“Just get me a large black coffee with a bit of room,” he said, and the boy faltered before smiling at him and nodding cheerfully.

“Coming right up!” he replied, grabbing the biggest cup and rushing off to fix it up for him. Nico fumbled around for his wallet and paid the girl running the cash register when prompted to, all the while staring at the boy who was getting his coffee. Nico had to admit he found him rather good looking, but there was no chance in Hell that he’d be into guys. Nico glanced briefly at the barista’s name-tag and saw the name Leo scrawled hastily in smudged white marker.

“Here you go, hope it tastes good!” Leo the barista said with a grin as he passed him the hot coffee; Nico’s hands touched Leo’s as he reached for the cup, and he was surprised to find how warm his hands were. They scorched him almost more than the coffee itself, and Nico had to hide a flush as it tried to creep towards his cheeks at the contact. Nico hastily made his way over to the condiment bar area, taking the lid off and pouring in a bit of creamer. He raised the cup to his lips and blew on it a bit before tasting it, wanting to properly add the right amount of cream. As the liquid washed over his tastebuds, however, something else besides simple coffee and cream caught his attention. Cinnamon? Vanilla?

He whirled his head around to catch Leo the barista, now working on a drink behind the bar, just in a moment when he raised his head and made eye contact. Leo shot him a wink and turned to reach for a lid, which is when Nico caught sight of the small earring in Leo’s right ear. Blush erupting onto his face without hesitation, Nico whipped back around to put a lid on his coffee and quickly exit the coffee shop. What had just happened? Had he been hit on by a barista, and a cute one at that? He took another sip of the coffee and there it was again, the taste of cinnamon and vanilla mixing in with the coffee and cream. If Nico remembered the Starbucks rules correctly, each flavor cost an additional 50 cents if he so chose to ask for any, so the barista definitely gave him a freebie there.

Sighing a bit to himself, he allowed himself to enjoy the quite delicious cup of coffee as he made his way to class, and he found himself wanting to return to that particular coffee shop despite his embarrassment. He was curious about where his morning visits could lead, despite preferring to keep to himself about most things like this. No harm in experimenting, right? He shouldn’t keep forcing himself to be miserable or shun any remote thought of being happy.

He returned not the next morning (he didn’t want to seem too eager) but the morning after that, and his heartbeat sped up a bit when he noticed that his (since when had he been referring to Leo as his?) barista was on duty. The morning wasn’t as busy as Monday when Nico had first come in, and since he didn’t have class until much later that day he had brought all his music making equipment in order to set up in an empty corner of the store to mess around on his tunes until he had to leave.

Leo didn’t look up from the register and see him until it was his turn to order. Nico probably was only imagining the hitch in the barista’s breath when they made eye contact, but he raised an eyebrow despite everything.

“Black coffee with room. And one of those croissants, too,” he ordered with a calm voice that belied his inner excitement to be speaking to the attractive boy again. Leo the barista smiled and went about getting him his order after he had paid, and Nico took that opportunity to stake a claim on one of the tables close to an outlet for his laptop. As he was pulling his computer out, he suddenly felt as if someone was next to him and he looked up to meet Leo’s deep chocolate eyes which glinted with something mischievous.

“Here you go, and I went ahead and heated up that croissant for you since you’re staying awhile. I forgot to ask your name so I couldn’t call it out to you...” he said, setting the food and coffee down on the table, careful to avoid the computer. Nico suppressed a smile. _‘Smooth bastard, I’ll give him that,’_ he thought to himself.

“Thanks. It’s Nico.”

A tanned hand stuck out in greeting, and Nico hesitantly reached out and took it. Hot and cold skin mixed for a moment, and Nico had to suppress the urge to keep holding on to that exquisite warmth.

“Nice to meet you, Nico, I’m Leo!” the barista said with a grin before darting back off behind the counter in order to take another customer’s order. Nico took a tentative sip of the coffee, and was surprised to find that not only had Leo once again added vanilla and cinnamon sweetener, he had also added a perfect amount of creamer.

Thing continued much in this way for the next month or so that Nico regularly went to the Starbucks. Sometimes he would go in on a day that Leo wasn’t working, and he’d pout a little on the inside but knew that it was just a matter of time until he saw the attractive barista again. Nico would find his music inspired by moments such as these, most of his tracks taking upbeat or more house-type influences as he worked. Often, he’d look up from his usual table in the coffee shop and see Leo working on a drink or brewing more coffee; sometimes, Leo would look back. Nico’s fingers flew across the keys and the mousepad of his laptop, working feverishly until a new piece of the song of the day was born.

Once or twice, Nico would catch other friends of Leo’s coming in to visit him at work, and these moments were the ones that Nico should have taken more seriously in relation to his current predicament. One of the boys who visited Leo at work, a boy with sea-green eyes and tousled black hair had caused his pulse to quicken unexplainably and his ears to go red. Nico wasn’t quite sure why, but he had a feeling he knew this other boy from somewhere...

And now it was all coming crashing down around him, more destructive and violently than any dubstep piece blasting through his headphones and into his eardrums. Both Leo and this boy were a part of the band that they’d be competing with for an audience at one of the biggest shows of their lives, and he wasn’t sure why but the thought both exhilarated him and made him want to be sick.

* 

Jason Grace typed furiously onto the word document pulled up on his laptop, answering questions for his online homework as accurately and quickly as he could so that he could get to more important (at least in his mind) matters. He had an interview for an online magazine sitting in his inbox, ready for him to type out answers to as Percy and Leo had already filled in their share. Jason had fallen behind on this particular duty as he’d been swamped with homework that past week, and the deadline for the interview was the next day. Starting on the answer for the next question, Jason hoped he would get everything done before Leo returned from work and Percy got back from class, as they had practice immediately following.

It didn’t take long for him to finish the remainder of his homework, and he pressed the save button with a satisfied hum before opening up his inbox. Annabeth’s forwarded email sat unopened amongst many others, and Jason was about to click it and download the file before another message she had sent a few days prior (the day she had gotten their gig for them) caught his eye. The subject read “Lineup Schedule for show @ Elysium” and knowing Annabeth, would be perfectly organized. Jason thought _‘what the hell,’_ and opened it.

The Elysium live music venue was one of the hottest upcoming locales to both experience live shows and play at them if in a band. Jason quite frankly was excited to see how their gig was going to turn out, simply because this place could pull out all the stops for them. Lighting, surround sound, fog machines, trapeze artists... Okay, maybe not that last one, but everything else was a definite. Jason scanned the list of people playing the venue on the night the Demigods were supposed to headline - correction, share a headliner spot with another group. Jason flicked his eyes towards the name of this other band, and frowned a bit.

“The Half-Bloods?” he muttered to himself. Where had he heard that name before? He followed up with a google search on this band, and instantly was bombarded with pictures of the supposed group, which seemed to comprise of three girls and two guys. Among the image results were also some photos of the famous actor Tristan McLean, for a reason unfathomable to Jason until he clicked on a picture of the lead singer.

The girl was strikingly pretty, with uneven caramelly-brown hair that suited her perfectly, kaleidoscope eyes that wouldn’t seem to settle on a color, and romantic features that drew him in almost instantly. She seemed determined in every photograph he found of her, confident and beautiful. She also was definitely Tristan McLean’s daughter. Jason fretfully clicked on one of the youtube links he found of their band playing live and watched with apprehension as they played.

No drummer was the first thing he noticed, which was a point to his own band's advantage, but these others made up for it with a guy who absolutely killed it as a synthesist. He observed the guitarist, a girl with fierce technique that he had to admit was impressive and mirrored his own in some ways. Their bassist seemed a bit awkward but knew how to work his instrument, seemingly taking his strength from the keyboard player, an African-American girl with curly golden hair that would often make eye contact with him as if encouraging him. Jason couldn’t help but continue staring at the singer, however, and was almost mesmerized by her voice. She could change the tone and hit incredible pitches, and Jason had to pause the video after a while and take a deep breath. He grabbed his phone, dialing the only person he could think of who would give him solid advice in that moment.

“What’s up?” the voice was curt but also hinted toward curiosity, giving Jason the go-ahead to ask all his questions and spill his worries.

“Thalia, I think my band’s screwed.”

“Whoa, slow down! What did Percy do this time?” his older sister immediately tossed the blame on Percy for reasons that Jason found extremely unimportant at that moment, so he ignored the jibe where he normally would have tried to defend his friend.

“We’re sharing the headliner spot at Elysium in about a week-”

“You’re playing at Elysium? Congrats, I’ll see if I can make it!” Thalia cut him off, and Jason had to smile as his sister’s enthusiasm was a bit contagious when she was excited about something.

“Yeah, but the point is that we’re sharing the headliner spot with a band that’s probably way better than us. Their lead singer is Tristan McLean’s daughter.” Jason knew that this particular point wasn’t the most important thing to be starting off with, but he felt like throwing it out there to add some perspective.

“Oh, the Half-Bloods! I’ve heard of them!” was Thalia’s cheery reply, and Jason hoped she could feel his glower through the phone.

“Oh, um... Well. Yeah, that’s pretty intense. You guys have very different approaches to music, though, which counts for something I think?” Thalia continued after a little cough.

“I don’t know if there’s any way for us to outdo them at this show... I’m really worried about it,” he confessed, running his hand through his blond hair and sighing heavily. He shifted on his bed, letting his legs dangle off the side of the bunk where the ladder connected it to the ground.

“Maybe you don’t have to. Just show up and play for you and for your crowd, not to try to impress another group. Remember what you’re there for, and that’s to play your music and connect with your audience. They’ll be the judge of it all in the end,” Thalia spoke wisely, and Jason blinked a few times in awe. His sister really did know just what to say in times like these, although it only made him feel slightly better.

“You’ll be at the show, yeah?” he prompted, too embarrassed to outright thank her for her words just yet.

“Sure, I’ll be cheering only for you. And I mean it, not Percy or Leo, just you. And maybe Annabeth,” she joked, and Jason let out a bark of laughter before muttering a quick goodbye and hanging up. Frowning a bit, he continued to stalk the Half-Bloods all over the internet for the next few hours until Leo’s arrival suddenly jolted him out of his stupor, and he realized he had neglected to work on the interview questions. Leo hopped up onto the ladder and stuck his head around to see Jason’s laptop screen, and the blond hurriedly exited out of the Facebook page he was looking at in hopes that Leo wouldn’t see it and assume things. It seemed to have worked, because Leo didn’t mention it.

“Jason, what’s gotten you all bent out of shape? We’ve got practice as soon as Percy comes home!” Leo reminded him before he jumped down, and Jason let out a loud gran before pulling open the file that held all the question he was supposed to have answered in order to frantically answer a few. If Annabeth found out he’d still not finished... Jason didn’t even want to think about it.

When Percy finally made it back to their apartment, Jason had only fully answered about five out of the twelve he should have completed, but he figured he’d just do the rest while they were eating dinner later. Hopping down off the bunk bed, he swung his guitar over his shoulder and followed his bandmates out.

“So Jason was stalking a girl on Facebook earlier,” Leo suddenly prompted as they were setting up their equipment in the rehearsal room. Percy looked over at him, a huge grin sliding onto his features as his sea-green eyes sparkled.

“Damn, it’s about time dude! Who is she?” he urged, and Jason flushed as the girl, Piper, and her captivating face and voice spun into his mind. Blushing, he flipped them both off as he adjusted the strap of his guitar.

“Nobody, leave it alone. Let’s just focus on our music, okay? I’m ready to let you hear the lyrics I wrote for the new piece...” Jason always kept the lyrics to his songs secretive until they all had a better, firmer grasp of each song;s melody. He offered this piece of information to distract his two friends from asking questions about the girl. He figured that their knowing just who they were up against would dishearten them and that was the last thing they needed if they wanted to blow this show out of the water.

“Tight! I’m so ready to have this piece finished, we’ll kick serious ass at Elysium with it!” Leo exclaimed, playing a quick roll on his drum kit that pumped up even Jason’s spirits. They left the Facebook girl be for then, and Jason breathed a little easier. He took a breath, realizing just before he began playing how appropriate the lyrics he was about to unveil would be for his current situation, and their situation as a band. He began strumming the chords, electric guitar gritty and the bass accompanying it with some deep, funky vibes that twisted into lighter ones without warning. Leo’s drumming underneath it all was simple but powerful, and Jason began to sing with a vigor that he was sure his bandmates noticed was even more energetic than usual.

“It's the cruelest joke to play

I'm so high, I run in place

Only a line, we separate, so...” he sang, and he watched as the other two nodded along with the words, Leo shooting a look at Percy and both of them grinning. Jason gritted his teeth, shaking his head a little at their reaction before diving into the chorus.

“I keep on playin’ our favorite song

I turn it up while you're gone

It's all I got when you're in my head, and you're in my head so I need it...” he sang fervently, and the music flowed with the words perfectly. Jason loved it when his songs meshed well with their new stuff, another reason he kept his lyrics close for the most part until he felt the song itself was ready for them. As they continued to play, the door creaked open slightly and Will the employee on duty poked his head in, grinning and shooting them a thumbs up. Grover and Juniper pushed inside past him, finding a corner not occupied by cables and sitting cross-legged on the floor. Their red eyes betrayed what they had been up to earlier, but Jason simply shook his head and shot them both a smile.

Eventually they played a few more songs and decided to take a break, emerging from the rehearsal room to stretch and catch their breath, as it was pretty stuffy in there. Will greeted them with some small paper cups filled with coffee and a few somewhat dry cookies, but Jason appreciated the gesture. Normally users of the facilities had to pay for refreshments, but Will insisted those were on the house.

“You guys rocked! Love that new song, when’s your next gig?” he asked excitedly as Jason sipped his coffee after blowing on it to cool it. Percy forgot to cool it off and Jason tried not to snicker as he watched the bassist burn his tongue and utter a few choice swear words; Leo laughed outright before slurping on his coffee obnoxiously, insisting that doing that cooled it off and that either way he didn’t feel heat as much.

“We’re playing at Elysium this upcoming Saturday. I forgot the time, but we’re gonna be around every day pretty much so next time I’ll tell you,” Jason replied, and Will shot him another thumbs up.

“Sweet, I’ll definitely drag some friends over to watch you guys! Elysium’s a pretty cool venue, too, how’d you get in there?” he asked.

“Annabeth, of course,” Percy said proudly, puffing out his chest a little. Both Jason and Leo rolled their eyes good-naturedly, while Juniper let put a little giggle before feeding Grover another one of the stale cookies (they didn’t seem to notice the consistency whatsoever).

“Alright, I’ll let you get back to work... You’re sure to kill it, can’t wait to see you play for real!” Will finished, and Jason nodded at him before they all returned to the practice room to pick up where they left off. Will’s appraisal and his sister’s words earlier left Jason feeling a lot better about the whole thing, and he momentarily allowed his supposed opponent, Piper McLean, to enter his thoughts. _‘If only she weren’t so goddamn cute...’_ he thought to himself before smothering the thought and the accompanying blush quickly, lest his friends notice.

 _‘Cute or not, we’re going to blow their show out of the water and light up the night with some kickass music, or so help me...’_ he trailed off, not quite sure what he’d do if he had to live down a mediocre show at such an important venue. No, the Demigods would be the talk of the music scene that night, and for weeks after if he had anything to do with it.

*

Frank Zhang stared at his fellow students as they worked diligently in the study room they had rented out in the library, blinking at them with an expression akin to that of a lost puppy. His major was History, with a projected focus on the History of War, and thus he was taking a bunch of classes that interested him on the topic. However, he was only a freshman, and so he also had plenty of the core required classes that everyone has to take in order to graduate, and the science class he was in did not go well with his aptitude in general. So there he sat with a smaller group of his classmates, poring over biology textbooks and trying to figure out ways to study for the upcoming lab practical that would be sprung on them next week.

“Listen, there’s got to be a way to remember all these levels of the energy cycle, we should just come up with an anagram or something...” he offered, and surprisingly the idea was liked and they set to work on the smallish white board that came with the study room, writing various options down before settling on one. When they took turns reciting it and all seemed to remember it properly, they called it quits and Frank packed up his stuff, leaving the study room with a wave to his classmates. He pulled out his phone and dialed Hazel, who picked up after a few rings.

“Frank, you’re done with homework for the night, correct?” she immediately asked, seeming... excited about something?

“Uh, I think so? There’s always some more studying I could do, but for now I could use a break,” he replied honestly, passing through the library before exiting onto the street and beginning the trek back to the apartment he shared with Nico.

“Good, because we just got invited to our first official college party! Well, more like Piper got invited by some guy, and I happened to be with her so the invitation got extended to me as well, and I’m not going without you,” Hazel explained firmly. Frank’s insides twisted a bit as he thought about a random guy asking his girlfriend to go places while he wasn’t around to assert himself and make sure people knew she was taken; things like that seemed to happen a lot lately, take that annoying barista from the other day as an example.

“There’s no way I’m getting out of this, is there?” Frank said with a sigh as he walked, deflating a bit.

“Nope, we’re all going, sorry!” Hazel said rather cheerfully, and Frank really wondered what this was all about before muttering something in agreement.

“I’ll be over in a bit to help you get Nico to come out of his cavern and get ready. I’ll explain the plan to the both of you also while I’m there, okay?” Hazel continued. Ah, so there was something... Frank opened his mouth to protest, wanting to know now, but Hazel cut him off again. “See you in a bit, bye!” she finished, and Frank could picture her smile on the other end of the phone as she hung up. Shaking his head, he slipped his phone back into his pocket and wondered just how crazy the rest of this night was going to get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, sorry for the delay with this chapter! I got my wisdom teeth pulled today, holy shit that was crazy. I feel like a goddamn chipmunk and I apologize if there are any grammatical errors and the like with this one. Feel free to let me know if you spot any!
> 
> Lyrics for the song Jason/the Demigods are singing are from ‘In My Head’ by Queens of the Stone Age. Don’t forget to check out the 8tracks playlist to listen to the song as if they were playing it, it’s a really good idea! :)
> 
> You got some Valdangelo in this chapter, too... I wonder! What could happen with the two of them, eh? I’m setting it up slightly obviously, but there are a few twists you might not see coming. Same with Reyna, I just WONDER what could become of her when she sees Thalia at the concert, eh? ;) Not to mention Jason and Piper, they’re super dorky and stubborn so this could become interesting.
> 
> Please leave me some comments, I love them and they’ll make my life better as I sit around all day doped up on pain meds with cotton stuck in my mouth! xx


	4. Disconnected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part one of the house party that Hazel was so excited about at the end of last chapter.
> 
> In which Piper avoids getting hit on, Leo acts like the dork he normally is, and Annabeth gets into a solo beer pong match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to the link below for the 8tracks playlist that goes with the fic!
> 
> http://8tracks.com/spottedleafpaw/this-will-be-our-year-fic-playlist
> 
> Chapter Songs are:  
> Disconnected (background song at the party)  
> Flatline (background song at the party, the one Leo is dancing to)
> 
> Enjoy!

Piper frowned at her reflection in the mirror as Hazel continued adding makeup to her face, wondering again why she had allowed this to happen in the first place. Reyna was finishing her own eye makeup and occasionally glancing over at Piper, snickering at her as quietly as she could.

“Tell me why we have to wear makeup and look ‘sexy’ tonight, again?” Piper asked with a huff, making air quotes as she did so. Hazel let out a noise of frustration as Piper’s movements jostled her brush, causing her to swipe a little too much of the dusty blue shadow on the crease of Piper’s eye.

“Keep still! And YOU have to look super hot tonight since I’ve heard that many attractive males will be there and you need to have some fun once in awhile. Loosen up, I know the band’s important to you, but you deserve a love life,” Hazel chastised, setting the brush down and picking up the liquid liner and staring at Piper’s face intensely. Piper groaned but kept still, eyes shut as she felt the gentle flick of the smaller brush across her lid.

“I’ve got to agree with Hazel on this one. No need for you to be a virgin forever,” Reyna said bluntly, which caused Piper to nearly choke and Hazel to gasp and hide giggles while still keeping her hand steady.

“Ugh, you’re both impossible,” Piper groaned, but after a moment or two more Hazel had finished with her eye makeup and she opened her eyes to stare at her reflection. She looked quite good, she had to admit it, but in a classic way that belied the rockstar image she tried to convey from time to time. The eye makeup wasn’t too flashy but shimmery in all the right ways, matching with the color scheme of her eyes and the shirt she was wearing. She had to give Hazel some credit, she knew how to not go overboard.

It wasn’t that Piper didn’t appreciate her looks, since in fact she had grown up with a father who often had to spend his mornings in a hair and makeup trailer for whatever movie he was working on. Piper had no idea who her mother was, but her dad would often tell her that she looked like her whenever Piper put on makeup; it was for this reason specifically that Piper avoided the cosmetics completely, especially whenever she was around her dad. Sure, she’d put some on for whenever she performed a show, but it was just enough to where she looked extremely natural (she was going to be working out on stage anyway, singing and jumping around like she did normally) and that was where she drew the line. That night, however, for the party’s sake, she had agreed to let Hazel work some magic on her and she didn’t quite regret it as she looked at the final result.

“Alright, Hazel, you did a good job... I’ll give you that,” Piper admitted, and Hazel shot her a wink before packing up all the makeup into a bag and dragging both Piper and Reyna out of the bathroom.

“Good, because we need to make sure the boys are ready! Who knows what they’re wasting time on...” she muttered. Hazel looked cute, her golden curly hair tied in a loose braid and a dark red flowy shirt complete with dark blue jeans and flats completed her party look. Hazel always was the epitome of classy, old-timey elegance in Piper’s opinion. In fact, Piper herself was wearing a simple shimmery blue tank top and a white hoodie, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a pair of dark skinny jeans with some converse. Reyna had opted for a dark purple three-quarter sleeve shirt, white pants, and leather boots. She still wore her hair pulled back, however it was only in a low side ponytail rather than her usual perfect braid.

As the girls arrived at the boys’ apartment, they were surprised to find the both of them already dressed and ready to go. Frank took one look at Hazel and flushed, then made a comment about how he’d be prying guys off of her all night. Hazel snorted and waved it off, but Frank shot Nico a look seemingly telling him to watch his back on this situation. Piper suppressed a giggle.

“So where is this place again?” Frank asked as they clambered in to Reyna’s car. She had a very high tolerance and had volunteered to be their driver that night, but everyone knew that Frank rarely touched alcohol and would probably insist upon driving them all back anyway.

“Some girl named Clarisse’s apartment. Reyna knows her from her weight training class,” Piper offered, and Frank’s face contorted into one that looked like he was thinking hard about something.

“What’s her last name?” he asked.

“La Rue,” Reyna replied.

“You know, I think I’m related to that girl in some way. My dad said I had a cousin that went to the same school as me...” he muttered, but Hazel had already linked arms with him and whispered something into his ear that made his ears turn red and Piper had a feeling it was about whatever antics they might get up to at this party. Hazel really was excited about this, as it was Piper’s understanding that she rarely as a younger girl was included in anything and often bullied. Of course, now that she had her friends and a great boyfriend and generally felt better about herself, the visible change in her personality could be discernible almost 24/7. She was a lot more feisty and outgoing than ever now that she had started college, and Piper was happy for her since she figured Hazel never expected to have a life this good for herself.

Eventually they pulled up and found an open spot in a parking garage, thankful that this building allowed visitor parking after 8 PM for free. Reyna locked her car and dutifully handed Frank the responsible one the keys before they marched over to the elevator to head to the apartment. Piper instantly knew which one it was once they made it out, as the door was cracked open and a few college kids were lounging about in the hallway with solo cups in their hands. Reyna’s glare dispelled any skeezy boys who were about to approach them, and they made their way inside.

The music was blaring, people were crowding the decently sized apartment, and the most nauseating part of it all was that all the regular lights had been replaced by blacklights (or was that supposed to be cool?) which varied in tone and size. It didn’t help that there were posters of rather violent looking war movies hanging across the walls, and Piper suspected there would be weaponry around too had Clarisse not taken it all down out of precaution for the party. From how Reyna described her, this girl was a bit of a weapons freak; that probably meant she locked them all up where drunk people couldn’t get ahold of them and try anything too idiotic.

“You made it!” a loud and harsh call from a tall and built girl with long brown hair and fierce eyes caused Piper to snap her eyes over to who must have obviously been Clarisse herself. From what she could tell due to the lighting, Reyna _would_ have been friends with this girl somehow... or at least they must have shared a mutual respect for one another. Reyna gave her a little head jerk and immediately scouted around for the alcohol with her sharp eyes. “And you brought the whole posse. I figured! Don’t wreck my house, don’t puke anywhere that isn’t a trash can or a toilet, and don’t go into my room unless I bring you there myself. Got it?” she said in a commanding voice while eyeing both Piper and Nico suspiciously for some reason. Piper’s eyes went wide and she nodded; this girl didn’t screw around.

“Yes ma’am!” Frank squeaked, then coughed as a blush crept over his face. Clarisse let out a bark of laughter, smacking him on the shoulder with enough force to shift even bulky Frank a little.

“I like you, kid! What’s your name? Here, have a jello shot!” she fired off rapidly, grabbing a handful of multicolored (but mostly red) jello shots from a bin that some weedy looking kid was carrying around. Frank took it, skeptically eyeing the thing as if it might explode.

“I’m Frank. And I’m probably going to be DD tonight, so I really shouldn’t...” he started, but Clarisse wouldn’t have it.

“What’s one little jello shot gonna do? Plus you’re huge, it won’t affect you at all...” she squinted at him a bit.

“Hey, you do look Asian though, so maybe not. Do whatever you want, Frank. My dad told me I had a cousin named Frank, actually, you go to NYU?” she continued, and Piper shared a look with Hazel as the two official cousins kept talking.

“I’m gonna get a drink. Find me whenever you want to leave or if you’re too drunk to function,” Nico spoke in his typical monotone, and slunk off into the shadows of the already dark party. Piper sighed, waving at Hazel and following him over to the drinks table with Reyna.

“Remember, start with the hard stuff, then move on to beer,” Reyna reminded her with a glint in her expression as she eyed the tequila. Piper chuckled and grabbed a solo cup, mixing in some pink lemonade with vodka, knowing that the combination would make it a bit easier to drink, at least for her. No sooner than she had turned around, the first one was upon her.

“Hey, you’re pretty cute! Never seen you around before, why’s that?” some guy with dark black hair and a squashed nose had approached her. Piper sighed and took a large gulp of her drink, noting the slight sting of the vodka that couldn’t completely hide under the lemonade.

“First time I’ve been to one of these parties at this place,” she admitted curtly. She scrutinized the boy: he had slanted eyes (with one looking slightly out of focus) and was rather wiry, his clothes hanging a bit loosely around his frame.

“Well I’m glad you came, the party got so much better with you here,” he grinned, sloppily drinking a swig of whatever was in his own cup. Reyna had abandoned her for the moment, so Piper would have to ditch this guy on her own it seemed. “I’m Ethan, and you are?” he continued.

“I’m actually going to find my friend, sorry!” she said cheerfully. With that, she took off at a brisk pace through the crowd in search of Nico. She knew it was too soon to rely on his help, but sometimes she just wasn’t feeling it. She and Nico both had this really good thing going, where they’d use each other to protect one another at parties such as these (there had been plenty in high school, after all they went to a boarding school and had to get out sometime) by faking the other as a boyfriend or girlfriend when necessary. Nico in fact was gay, which is why it worked well for Piper and she didn’t have to worry about him getting his feelings hurt every time they pretended (and vice versa, if you thought about it).

Music pounding and lights flaring, Piper finally spotted Nico leaning against the wall under a large poster of the movie 300. She pushed through a bunch of people and finally emerged, proud of herself for not spilling her drink on anyone.

“Nice abs, eh?” was her comment once she made it to him; he looked up and snorted.

“I prefer ‘em a bit less chiseled, if you believe it. I want to date a person, not a marble statue,” Nico muttered before taking a sip of his beer. “At least the beer isn’t half bad,” he continued.

“Sorry to bother you so soon into the night, but it already started up,” she spoke with a grimace, sipping her own drink. Nico shrugged.

“Fake boyfriend at your service, it’s what I’m here for,” he replied sarcastically, and Piper had to giggle a little.

“Seriously Nico, why haven’t you found a boyfriend yet? Anybody’d be lucky to have you,” she spoke with sincerity, watching him carefully for his reaction. He bit his lip, swirling one of his piercings around a little as he did whenever contemplative.

“Yeah, well, maybe I’ve had my eye on someone...” he mumbled, immediately pulling the beer to his lips as if to smother what had just escaped his mouth. “It’s complicated,” he added upon resurfacing.

“What?! Come on, Nico, spill! Well, whatever you’re comfortable with. Who is he? What’s he like? Where do you see him?” Piper exclaimed, thankful for the music that covered her outburst for the most part. Nobody was paying attention in any case, as they were all too engrossed in the party.

Nico’s shoulders slumped, and he turned towards her, opening his mouth to say something snappy most likely, however his eyes froze on something and he turned to focus on it. Piper also turned, head jerking a bit as she followed his line of sight. He was looking towards the door, where a whole new crowd of people were spilling into the apartment rather quickly; she couldn’t quite make out everyone, but Nico seemed to turn paler than usual before taking another large swig of his beer (apparently finishing it) before chucking it into a nearby trash can.

“Over there. I see him over there. He just walked in.”

*

Leo was pumped for this party, and he was trying to spread his enthusiasm to his friends as they walked in the door looking more or less ‘eh’ about it all. He gave Percy a nudge in the ribs, jostling both him and Annabeth as they were holding hands.

“Lighten up! It’s just a party... Although light may not be easy to come by in this place, sweet!” he exclaimed as he noticed the dark glow of blacklights. Everyone in his group of friends rolled their eyes and groaned, Annabeth not even deigning him with a retort as she dragged Percy off to the drinks. Leo mentally _pshaw_ -ed them and turned to Jason. The blond was wearing a beanie which mostly covered his head, only a few wispy hairs from his bangs and at the nape of his neck sticking out.

“Jason, you’re never going to get a girlfriend if you cover up your Herculean-style good hair... It’s like a gift from the gods!” he joked, ripping the beanie off his head. Jason’s hair stuck up as if he had been electrocuted, and Leo let out a howl of laughter. Jason growled at him and snatched the beanie back, slipping it right back onto his head.

“That’s the point, Leo! I don’t want these type of girls to be my girlfriend or anything of the sort,” he grumbled, staring with a sort of disgusted sneer at a couple of ditzy drunk girls rubbing up all over some guy on the makeshift dancefloor. Leo shrugged, internally admitting that he may have a point; at least he had options, though, while all Leo could expect from this party were some good party games and getting shitfaced. No-one in their right mind would be into him and at one of these parties... Not anyone of either gender, which really bummed him out but as usual he put on a happy face and would use the free alcohol to forget about it.

“You can’t even talk about hats, Leo, you’re wearing a goddamn snapback,” Jason said, flicking the brim with his index finger and dislodging it a bit from the snug place around Leo’s curls. He made a sound of protest, pushing it back into place.

“For your information, it makes me look like a douchebag, which is a major turn-on for both genders. It increases my chances of getting laid by... a lot. Oh, and it has cats on it, so it’s ironic and quirky or whatever this hipster shit that’s going on is,” Leo replied, grabbing a handful of jello shots from a bin sitting by the door and handing three to Jason.

“You are such a dork,” Jason laughed, shaking his head but ripping open the little package and raising it slightly, waiting for Leo to do the same. Leo tore off the packaging’s top and clunked his with Jason’s, then taking his index finger and running it around the little cup’s side in order to loosen the jello before dumping the whole thing in his mouth and swallowing.

“Mmmm, strawberry! Now, let’s hit the pong table!” he said with a grin, pushing Jason over to where he presumed the beer pong table was set up. However, when they got there, they found Percy and Annabeth already dominating the show against two very frustrated looking boys. Percy always was pretty beastly at BP in Leo’s eyes; it was as if the beer arced up to grab the ball, pulling the little ping pong ball right into the cups. Okay, but really, Percy was just phenomenal at any game that involved liquids (maybe it had to do with his major being Oceanography or something?), and couple that with Annabeth’s tactical precision, they won basically every match. This time around, Percy even had the hood of his jacket pulled up (he liked going to parties like that, he thought it was cool for some reason) which int this case allowed for him to seem just a bit more menacing.

“Okay, same old same old. Let’s get you dancin’ with some hot chicks!” Leo exclaimed after taking his remaining two jello shots and downing them. Jason sputtered a bit, but followed along with Leo as he dragged him over to the dancefloor while grabbing some beers from the cooler along the way. Leo dove right in, Jason a bit more reluctant, but their presence was noted. A few girls immediately crowded around them, mostly trying to get close to Jason and grabbing on to him wherever they could. Some techno-grunge music was playing, and Leo just jived along to the beat while taking sips from his beer occasionally. By the time the song was coming to a close, Jason had about three girls rubbing up on him and Leo was trying hard not to laugh at the expression of loathing on his friend’s face.

Leo turned to finish his beer, and scanning the room for a trash can his eyes suddenly stuck on the person standing right next to it. He blinked a few times, making sure it wasn’t a dream, before pushing through the swaying bodies and ignoring Jason’s yelps of protest. He stopped in front of the person, absently tossing his empty beer bottle into the trash as he scanned the other up and down.

“It really is you!” he exclaimed, not sure what else was appropriate.

“Well spotted,” was Nico’s reply. Leo then burst into a huge grin, the alcohol having begun to buzz through him already. He reached out and crushed the shorter boy into a hug, swaying a little as he did so before pulling back a little.

“And just how much have you been drinking already?” Nico muttered with an adorable flush on his cheeks. Leo’s grin stuck to his face, so much so that he felt like it might ache a bit if he kept this up.

“I guess I’ll just leave you two alone then...” a pleasant sounding female voice to his right had Leo realizing that Nico had been standing next to someone else, and when he turned to look at her his heart dropped at just how attractive she was. Was this Nico’s girlfriend? Had he been misinterpreting all the work visits and cinnamon in the coffee? However, he noticed her small smile and gleaming eyes after a second (it was pretty dark in there after all) and he relaxed a bit.

“There you are! God, Leo, you ass, and speaking of which, one of those girls tried to grab mine- oh, who’re you hugging?” Jason had finally extracted himself from the mob of grinding bodies it seemed, and was staring at Leo’s arms still thrown around Nico a bit haphazardly.

“O-oh, yeah, dude this is Nico! I know him from work,” Leo immediately offered, and Jason was now mirroring the girl’s facial expression as Leo retracted his arms from around Nico (as much as he didn’t want to).

“Well, this has been fun, but I need another drink! Join me?” the girl spoke up suddenly, and glancing quickly at Jason she linked her arm through his as began dragging him away before he could respond. He caught on not too long after and exaggeratedly wrapped his arm around her shoulder, using it as an excuse to shoot a wink over his arm at Leo. A really, really obvious wink.

“I hate my friends,” he and Nico both muttered at the same time, and Leo let out a chuckle at the moment it happened. Before he could open his mouth to say anything to the smaller boy, however, another person invaded their space and Leo was about ready to smack whoever it was for some reason.

“Nico, Clarisse keeps trying to feed me alcohol and I don’t want it, take it quick!” a bulky Asian-looking boy shoved two different beers into Nico’s hands and was gone without much of a glance towards Leo.

 _‘Feed me alcohol?’_ Leo mouthed the words before snatching one of the beers from Nico without thinking about it and snapping the cap off with the bottle opened he had on his keys. He offered it to Nico, who accepted.

“Um, so...” Leo began after taking a sip of liquid courage.

“Yeah...” Nico replied, seemingly just as awkward. He frowned for a moment, though, then reaching up to mess with the peeling label on his bottle. “Why do you always sneak sweetener into my coffee?” he asked suddenly, dark eyes peeking through some of his messy bangs to meet Leo’s own. Leo gave him a look.

“Uh, how about because I think you’re cute?” he blurted, and realized his mistake too late. “Shit. I mean, maybe you look like you need something to sweeten up your day?” Leo tried again. Better. Nico seemed amused, yet a tint of pink was visible on his cheeks.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” he flashed a smile at Leo, and it took all of his willpower over his drunken self to not lean in and smash his lips to the other boy’s then and there.

*

Annabeth smiled proudly at the third victory she and Percy had accomplished at the beer pong table, the losers muttering curses under their breaths as they slunk off to go drown their embarrassment in more alcohol. She scanned her spectators, flipping a large chunk of her curly blonde hair over her shoulder as she turned to face her boyfriend.

“Can you go get us something to drink? We haven’t had much after all...” she said a bit bitchily (on purpose) in reference to their hardly touched solo cups full of beer at their end of the table. They barely had to drink throughout their performance that night, and Annabeth was always up for a nudge of alcohol from time to time. Percy smiled at her and leaned in for a long kiss which caused her knees to go weak a bit.

“Be back in a sec,” he said a bit breathlessly as he retreated into the crowd. Annabeth felt a little smug and a whole lot lucky that she was able to have such a wonderful boyfriend, also reveling a bit in the looks she received from some female spectators around the table. One, however, looked sour for some other reason and Annabeth was startled and regretful at having caught her eye. The girl suddenly pulled away from the crowd and walked over to Annabeth full on, standing a bit taller than her and clutching her cup rather tightly.

“What do you say to a one on one match, you and me?” the girl spoke, face set into a stony expression that intimidated Annabeth a little.

“Um, sure? What’s your name?” Annabeth replied, not one to back down from a challenge. She and Percy made a great team, but she wasn’t half bad solo.

“Reyna.”

The girl, Reyna, marched over to the other end of the table, setting her drink down on the edge and pouring new beer into the rearranged solo cups. Annabeth had the ping pong balls, putting one in an empty cup and offering Reyna the first shot by sending her the other across the table. Her dark eyes seemed amused, and she nodded before taking the shot... and landing it in the first cup at the front. Annabeth had to refrain her jaw from dropping open, and she ignored the loud screams coming from their audience as she plucked the ball out of the cup and downed the beer, grimacing as it had gone flat from sitting out for quite a few rounds.

“You’re good,” Annabeth said with a small raise of the now empty solo cup before she set it off to the side and lined up her next shot. If she had any luck, she knew just the angle to duplicate Reyna’s shot in order to get the same cup as her and prove a point... Her arm arched, the ball flew, and hit the beer in the first cup with a soft splash. “...but so am I.”

As they continued, they gained a rather large crowd of onlookers who would cheer them on, and Percy finally made it back with their drinks looking a little shell-shocked. Annabeth would ask him about it later, as she and Reyna seemed to be at a tie constantly, oftentimes one surpassing the other only by a turn or two before the other would catch right back up.

“Whoa, solo style? Who is this chick?” Percy asked, coming to stand close to Annabeth as he set her drink down next to her.

“Shush, you’ll throw me off if you distract me with your attractiveness!” Annabeth blurted out, and Percy let out a small laugh as he probably noticed how flushed she was from all the beer she was having to drink by herself (and which loosened her tongue a bit in the process).

“Alright, babe, knock her out!” he exclaimed, and Annabeth nodded as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before turning her attention towards the shot she would inevitably make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, here’s an update! It’s been about a week I think, which is what I think I’ll try to keep doing. Weekly updates that is.
> 
> Sorry for the overwhelming Valdangelo in this one too, I just can’t help myself. I planned to have the party finish in this chapter, but I’m thinking it’ll take the next one too and then we’ll be on to the concert! Woohoo!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed Piper’s point of view as well as part of Annabeth’s as well, they are both fun to write and I’m looking forward to tossing in the next characters as well. I loved writing awkward Frank and imposing Clarisse too, and next time we’ll see more of Reyna as well... 
> 
> The lack of band stuff in this chapter was intentional, in that these kids are headed out to party and lose all thoughts of work, responsibility, and simply let loose a bit. Next time around there will be more of their band stuff mentioned of course, but for now this chapter showcases a bit of the college side of life for them. :)
> 
> Let me know what you all thought and what you’d like to see happen, I’m always open to suggestions! Comments always adored too. xx


	5. Strangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jason meets a pretty girl while drinking, and Reyna kicks ass at beer pong before the shit generally hits the fan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to the link below for the 8tracks playlist that goes with the fic!
> 
> http://8tracks.com/spottedleafpaw/this-will-be-our-year-fic-playlist
> 
> Chapter songs are:  
> Stranger (background music at the party; Jason & Piper scenes)  
> Chess Fight (background music at the party; Reyna & Annabeth BP match)
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy!

Jason hadn’t really been down for the whole ‘go out and party until coherency is a joke’ that both Leo and Percy to some extent were into, especially not after having seen the competition he and his band were going to be facing in less than a week. However, there he was, getting grinded on by two girls whose faces were a blur in front of him; Leo was close by, drinking his beer loosely and generally letting go. Jason had to admit that his friend had a point when it came to all of this sort of stuff; maybe it was the alcohol slowly creeping up on him, but Jason’s blood was beginning to sing a bit and he didn’t mind the dancing quite as much.

However, when Leo abruptly abandoned him in the middle of the dancefloor to the mercy of these unknown girls, Jason snapped back into himself and his embarrassment and discomfort took hold. Sputtering a bit and calling out after Leo, he desperately tried to find an exit route away from these girls who now were totally focused on him. Taking a swig of his beer, he kept his eyes trained on Leo’s idiotic kitty snapback as he made his way off the dancefloor and over to some guy leaning against the wall by a trash can. Having figured out where to go, Jason let out a small laugh as of course Leo would try to hit on some guy and was probably getting all sorts of interesting reactions right about now.

He continued to dance for a moment or so, shifting around a bit in order to position himself for his escape. It was when he felt someone (he couldn’t tell which girl it was due to the lighting) palm his ass that his eyes widened and he pushed himself further away from them.

“Sorry, ladies, I’m done,” Jason spoke, pulling the bleached blonde one off of him and sneaking past the one with the horrible fake tan, beer bottle high above the rest of the dancing people so as to not spill anything. Once he reached the edge of the dancers, he made his way over to where Leo now had his arms around the boy he had run off to talk to. Well, Jason supposed that Leo was bound to have some good luck sometime. Clearing his throat, he took another sip of his beer and finished it, tossing it into the conveniently placed trash can next to the two embracing boys.

“There you are! God, Leo, you ass, and speaking of which, one of those girls tried to grab mine- oh, who’re you hugging?” he found himself saying. Giving Leo a hard time over this would be fun, and he had to suppress a grin as Leo fumbled and turned around, a small blush darkening his already tan skin.

As Leo introduced the boy as Nico from work, Jason squinted in the dark as the guy seemed weirdly familiar, but perhaps it was just something the blacklights were doing. Shrugging it off, he glanced over at the girl who apparently was also a part of this little conversation and had to do a double take. She was quite pretty, hell, she was gorgeous. From what he could see in the dark, of course, she really was a knockout in all the right ways. Nothing slutty about her, just completely chill vibes and natural beauty that made Jason’s heart beat a little faster.

“Well, this has been fun, but I need another drink! Join me?” the girl spoke up; her voice was lovely, and Jason had to blink a few times as he realized she was speaking to him. She linked her arm through his and began to drag him away from the two boys, and Jason realized what she was doing would be giving the two of them their space. Grinning at the prospect of one of his best friends getting a chance to finally talk to someone in that way, he used this opportunity to exaggeratedly throw an arm around her shoulders and turn around as he did so, shooting Leo a very theatrical wink as he did so.

“Nice one, they really need some alone time,” he added once he and the girl were out of the two boys’ line of sight.

“Gotta help a friend out whenever I can, especially when they deserve it,” she said with a shrug and a smile. They reached the drinks table and she pulled a red solo cup off the pile and handed it to him while setting her own down and beginning to fill it up with pink lemonade and vodka. A girly drink, but in her hands somehow it fit perfectly.

“What’re you drinking then?” she asked, shooting him a glance quickly. he noticed that she didn’t seem to want to make eye contact with him, and he wondered about that. Maybe she was really shy? He couldn’t quite make out every detail of her face in this lighting, but what he could see was how goddamn pretty she was and it really made him feel lucky to be talking to her at all.

“Probably some rum and coke to start, keeping it simple,” he said, reaching for the bottle of rum and pouring some into the solo cup. She nodded swirling her drink around a bit before taking another sip. Jason followed suit after he had filled his own cup, and they moved over towards the wall just to the side of the drinks table and leaned against it. She looked out towards the party, not at him, while he was focused entirely on her and waited to get a glimpse of her full face.

“I really hope Nico is happy, your friend seems like a good guy,” the girl spoke after a moment, and Jason felt his heart warm to her some more just as the rum warmed his insides as he drank it.

“They really do look good together, and I’m sure it’ll work out. Seems like you don’t play matchmaker that often though, hm?” Jason prodded, causing her to snicker a bit.

“Me? My own love life is nonexistent, so there’s no way in hell I’d be comfortable messing with anyone else’s. I can see a good match when it’s right in front of me, though,” she added as an afterthought, and Jason admired her honesty.

“I’m right there with you. Everyone’s always trying to set me up with some random girl or another, but I want to wait until I feel it, you know?” he found himself telling her while bringing his drink to his lips, and she looked up to face him directly now. It was the first time he saw her eyes fully in the limited lighting, and he nearly swallowed his drink the wrong way. They glinted all sorts of various ways, no particular color discernible amongst the many that swirled together like a kaleidoscope.

“That’s exactly what my friends do to me! That’s why I’m even here at this party in the first place, god... I’m glad someone else gets that and not just me,” she said enthusiastically, and Jason had to smile at her. She flushed a little bit, turning back to leaning against the wall and sipping her drink.

“Yeah... What’s your name then? I forgot to ask,” she continued, and Jason was about to tell her when three people suddenly arrived in front of them.

“There you are! Come do shots with us, okay?” a rather built girl with brown hair was dragging a bulky Asian kid over to the drinks table, followed by a short African-American girl who was seemingly quite entertained by the spectacle.

“Yeah, yeah, okay. I’ll do a shot with you guys,” the girl relented, and glanced over at Jason quickly as if she didn’t really want to leave him there.

“Bring your friend too! What’s his name?” the loud girl turned her fierce eyes onto Jason, who would have taken a step back had he not been already against a wall.

“Um... I’m Ja-” he began, but the girl got impatient with him it seems and cut him off.

“Well hurry up, Jay, let’s go do shots!” she exclaimed. The Asian guy gave him a look that screamed for salvation and Jason had to laugh a bit as they swiveled over to the drinks table.

“Clarisse, I really shouldn’t drink too much, I might have to drive everyone home...” the Asian said in a very frustrated and somewhat frightened tone.

“Too bad, you’ll be fine. We’re starting with tequila,” Clarisse retorted, and there was a whimper from the Asian dude as he eyed the small plastic shot glasses being placed in front of everyone. Jason wanted to snicker at the goings-on, but he was aware of the pretty girl standing close to him and so he didn’t want to jostle her. The shot glasses were colored, clear neon plastic that glowed a bit due to the blacklights, and Jason had to admit that they were pretty cool. Clarisse poured the tequila into each of five shot glasses, handed them all a lime, and then grabbed a jar of salt which she offered around for them all. After properly equipping themselves for the shot, Jason glanced down at the girl and was both pleased and embarrassed to find that she caught him looking.

“Cheers!” Clarisse boomed, and they all clinked their glasses against the table before bringing them back up to their lips. Jason licked the salt off the edge of his glass before downing the tequila, grimacing a bit and shoving the lime straight into his mouth. Next to him, the cute girl was making a sour face as well but looked adorable as she did so. The Asian guy was coughing and sputtering, while the African-American girl was patting him on the back and kissed his cheek despite her own eyes looking a bit watery.

“Next! Whisky!” Clarisse shouted, and Jason’s eyes bugged out of his head as she was already back on track for another round of shots.

“I think I’ll need a chaser for this one,” the girl next to him muttered, and Jason absentmindedly pointed out the drink she still held in her hand. She laughed, a beautiful sound, and he grinned at her.

“What better way to chase down alcohol? More alcohol!” he joked, and she was shaking with laughter at this point. Clarisse shoved two new shot glasses in their hands and looked at them with a hard expression on her face.

“That’s the spirit. Now, open wide, buttercup,” she spoke directed towards the Asian boy who groaned again but took the whisky like a champ. Jason had to admire his resilience, which prompted him to take his own shot glass and down the contents. It burned down his throat, and he immediately took a swig of his rum and coke to dull the feeling.

“Alright, I’m out for now, guys... Be safe!” the girl next to him had performed a similar action and Jason also nodded and followed her over to a recently vacated couch in the corner of the room where he sat down next to her heavily.

“Whoa, what a rush,” he muttered, knowing full well that taking another sip of his drink was the opposite of helping but doing it anyway. She giggled, doing the same before turning to look at him with those gorgeous eyes again.

“So, what’re you here for? You studying something cool?” she asked, her tongue slurring the words a bit. Jason found it extremely cute, and had to remember that she was indeed asking him questions and talking to him which warranted him to respond; he couldn’t just spend the night staring at her and listening to her speak in that sweet voice of hers, as much as he wanted to.

“Uh, yeah, I go to Columbia... Studying Meteology,” he tried saying the name of his major but it came out all garbled and he frowned.

“Meterology. Meteor-ology. Yeah, that one,” he corrected, and she was in a fit of giggles at this point, leaning over slightly onto him as she laughed. He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders for the second time that night, steadying her but smiling all the same.

“What, what’s so funny, huh?” he teased, prodding her a bit and using it as an excuse to get closer to her.

“You looked so concentrated and dorky, it was adorable,” she gasped out, one of her hands coming to rest on his chest as she finally looked up at him, eyes still dancing from laughter.

“You’re adorable,” he mock-accused her, and she scoffed, rolling her eyes at him before smiling softly. Before he knew it their lips were touching, and his hand subconsciously set his drink on the floor next to them while his lips hungrily devoured hers. The alcohol in his system was now coursing fluidly and making all sorts of magic happen; his hand came back up to cup her face, fingers threading through her choppy hair as she let out a little noise that he happily swallowed up. The arm around her shoulders fell to her waist, pulling her closer to him, and she set her drink in between her knees in order to use both hands to grip onto him, all without breaking the kiss.

Jason wasn’t sure where this was going; he was a rockstar after all, right? So wasn’t he able to do this sort of thing? No, wasn’t he expected to? He really liked this girl, though, and didn’t want to screw it up... Breathless, he broke apart from her for a moment, her hands snaking up underneath his beanie to mess with his hair. He closed his eyes, reveling in the sensation as his blood sang out with the pulse of alcohol.

“Hey... I really like you and don’t wanna fuck up... Uh, but what’s your name?” he said, apologetically, and she simply leaned in for a quick peck on his lips again before speaking.

“It’s, um, Piper,” she said shyly, as if she wanted to keep it a secret for some reason. Piper. Huh, the name was really familiar, and now that he looked at her, she looked really familiar too... His eyes widened, and she blushed at his reaction.

“Piper as in... Piper McLean?” he stuttered, the name coming to him suddenly and his blood chilling a bit as he realized who it was he was kissing. Images of her singing up on stage in the youtube videos he watched flashed through his mind, however she didn’t seem too fazed.

“Yeah, sorry, I just try to keep my life and my dad separate...” she began explaining. However, at that moment she grew frustrated with the beanie blocking his hair from her and she let it fall off, exposing his bright blond hair and fully appreciating his face. Her brows furrowed, and she looked at him closely before her own eyes widened, too.

“Oh... Ohmygod... No way...” she was breathless, hands stilling in his hair and his heart stuttering a bit as she looked at him in a whole other light, now, apparently realizing who he was. “You’re not... Jay... Jason from the Demigods?” she muttered, figuring it out and reluctantly (or so he hoped) pulling her hands away from him.

“Y...Yeah, that’s me,” he replied softly.

Well, their lives just got about ten times more complicated.

*

Reyna might have underestimated the skill of the girl she was currently battling in beer pong, as so far they were still mostly tied and it didn’t look like that would be changing anytime soon. Plus, drinking all that beer solo was not doing her any favors. Her aim was off a bit, and her vision was beginning to fuzz up a bit.

“Come on Annabeth!” her obnoxious boyfriend shouted from underneath his hoodie, raising his drink and downing it as Annabeth scored another one. Reyna cursed, grabbing the offending cup and downing the liquid inside with a grimace. Only four cups left for both of them now, and she was hoping they’d end this soon. Preferably with her victory, but at this point she had so much liquid in her stomach that she was feeling full and cranky.

“Goddammit, gimme the vag-shaped formation,” she ordered, and Annabeth arched her eyebrows and laughed before arranging the cups into the diamond shape.

“You could have just said diamond... Didn’t know you swung that way, Reyna,” she threw back at her, and Reyna glared daggers at the blonde. Smarter than her stereotype, that’s for sure. Her frustration at being called out on her sexuality caused her to overshoot the ball by a bit, and Annabeth crowed with delight as it was now her go.

“Diamond shape,” Annabeth asked, tone a bit mocking, and Reyna rolled her eyes before switching her cups into the same format. Annabeth positioned herself and Reyna knew immediately that she’d make the shot. Not a moment later and she was staring at the round little white ball floating inside the cup closest to her amongst the brownish beer. She pulled the ball out with a scowl and drained that cup too, taking aim and shooting her own, finally making it and relishing the look she received from Annabeth.

“You got this!” her boyfriend shouted, and Reyna felt a vein pulse in her temple as the guy was really annoying. Perhaps she was just jealous that she didn’t have her own personal cheerleader, but she blamed it mainly on this guy’s obnoxiousness.

“Can you give it a rest? People are trying to concentrate here,” she barked, and his sea-green eyes widened as he raised his hands as if surrendering.

“Yeah, Percy, you are kind of distracting,” Annabeth muttered, and Reyna’s brow furrowed as she heard the guy’s name. Percy... Where had she heard that name before? She now paid particular attention to the boy, whose black haired bangs stuck out slightly from under his hoodie. He really did look familiar....

“Oh shit!” Reyna exclaimed, eyes bugging out just as Annabeth made another shot. 

“Yeah, looks bad for you,” the blonde crowed, but Reyna ignored her. “Oh hell no, you guys cannot be here... Now I really have to beat you, sorry blondie,” she growled, realizing that if he was here then his bandmates probably were too.

“What are you talking about? Who are you?” Annabeth’s brow furrowed, and Reyna lined up another shot and made it, to her great relief.

“If I win, I’ll tell you,” she offered, a challenge that Annabeth seemed torn on accepting. Reyna hoped she’d fall for it, since either way she would probably figure it out by the time of the show next week. Annabeth drained her cup and took another shot. This time, it actually looked as if she was trying to make it but the ball still bounced off the rim and Reyna’s eyes sparkled in triumph. The alcohol had been gripping both of them for some time now, and they were desperately holding on for the finish.

Two cups left for the both of them, and Reyna knew that if she made this one she might have a chance of winning. Steadying herself, she let the ball fly... And successfully landed the cup, causing a roar from the crowd surrounding them and Annabeth’s scowl was rather prominent as she downed the beer. Annabeth took her own shot, making it, but knowing that the odds were in Reyna’s favor since she would get a chance to try beating Annabeth first. Reyna felt a little sick as she swallowed her own cup of beer, shaking her head slightly to clear it a bit.

She took the aim for the last cup, the hardest one for most people, and glared it down as if it had feelings. _Submit to me, cup_ , she thought menacingly, before letting the ball fly once more. Everyone was holding their breath, and time seemed to be passing in slow motion as it sailed through the air. It shot towards the open container holding the beer, and landed in precisely as if she had been totally sober making the shot. Everyone cheered, rushing over to pat Reyna on the back as they congratulated her on the win, and Reyna was thankful to have beaten this girl as it was small comfort due to the potential disaster waiting to happen at the show later this week.

As a show of good sportsmanship, she raised her last cup and drained it just as Annabeth did the same, then moving away from the table and allowing others to start setting up for another game.

“Who are you?” Annabeth demanded, arms crossed, as Reyna arrived to where she and her boyfriend, Percy, were standing. She smirked, staring at Percy as she spoke.

“I’m the guitarist from a band called the Half-Bloods, and it looks like we’ll be sharing a stage with you next week. Nice to beat you,” she said smoothly, watching as Annabeth’s mouth popped open in a round ‘o’ of surprise and as Percy’s eyes widened to the size of small tea saucers.

“There you are, Reyna, let’s go!” Piper was suddenly in her face just as she had turned away from the couple, and her friend’s eyes darted over to Percy with some sense of recognition. “Eeep! Another one! Let’s _gooooo_ ,” Piper insisted, dragging on Reyna’s arm a bit. Reyna arched her brows and was about to ask what was bugging her when a blond boy suddenly approached, a bit breathless, pulling a beanie on and trying to grab Piper’s arm.

“Hey, listen, it doesn’t have to be this way,” he began saying, but Piper wouldn’t have it. Reyna scrutinized the guy, noticing his mussed features and swollen lips before she stared at Piper a bit more closely and found her in a similar state.

“Um, I’m not going to ask. Piper says we’re leaving, so we’re leaving, and do not dare follow us or I’ll kick your ass,” Reyna addressed the blond sharply, and he clammed up immediately. She noticed his startling electric blue eyes for less than a millisecond and wondered where she had seen them before, but Piper was already dragging her off with words about finding Nico and then the boy was gone, lost in the crowd of people.

They pushed through bodies and made their way through the dark room, music pounding and the smell of sweat and booze overpowering her system and reminding her of the fullness in her stomach; she pressed on, scanning the place for Nico. Surprisingly enough, she found him holding hands in a dark corner (that bit was pretty normal) with a curly-haired boy wearing a snapback who seemed to be leaning in to kiss him.

“Ghost Boy, we’re getting out of here,” she shouted over at him, and Nico jerked away as if either stung or caught with his hand in the cookie jar, blushing slightly. He untangled his hand from the boy’s, who turned to look at Reyna a bit murderously.

“Oh for the love of... Not another one! What the hell!?” she exclaimed as she recognized another band member, glaring daggers at both the Latino and Nico, who seemed almost... sheepish?

“We’re finding Frank and Hazel and we’re going, final. Then we’re having a band powwow when we get back to the apartments, also final,” she ordered. 

“Band powwow?” the Latino guy asked, questioningly looking at Nico, who avoided looking back at him and simply waved, refusing to meet his eyes. Reyna almost felt bad for the kid if she weren’t so pissed and drunk.

Finding Frank and Hazel wasn’t hard, as Reyna had assumed Clarisse was still running the show for some reason as she had taken a liking to Frank. Clarisse was over at the dartboard hanging on the wall near the kitchen, making Frank and Hazel play darts with her. Reyna placed a firm hand on Frank’s shoulder, startling him a bit.

“We’re getting out of here, and I drank an entire table of beer pong beer all by myself, so you’d better drive,” she told him, and he looked a bit guilty.

“I’ve been... forced to drink too, so I’m not that confident that-” he started, and Reyna rolled her eyes.

“You’re fine, I saw you make that dart shot a second ago. Let’s get out of here now, we’ve got a meeting to hash out,” she growled, and Clarisse didn’t even question that tone and simply fist bumped Frank while waving them out.

They arrived to the door with no problems, but just as they were making their way into the hallway there was a garbled collective shout, which caused Reyna to turn around and glare at the people coming towards them. Latino boy was the first to get there, grabbing Nico by the arm. Reyna noticed how hurt they both seemed to look, and despite her drunken state really did feel bad for ruining their little moment. It was hard for Nico to get any sort of contact with guys he liked (at least she assumed he liked this boy, as they were holding hands) and Reyna truly appreciated that; however, this didn’t change the fact that he was a part of their slowly increasing rival band.

“Don’t... You... I...” the Latino, Leo she thought his name was, stuttered helplessly.

“It’s complicated, Leo, you’ll see soon enough,” Nico muttered softly, pulling his arm out of Leo’s grasp and smiling apologetically with one that did not reach his eyes.

“Piper, please don’t...” the blond boy who Reyna recognized as the lead singer of the band had arrived, and Piper whirled around with a huge blush creeping over her face.

“I’ve got to go, Jason, I’m sorry,” she said softly, taking off down the hallway without further ado, Hazel on her heels.

“Reyna, what’s your deal?” Percy exclaimed, looking drunk and frustrated. “Why are you guys so worried about shit? No need to be all competition-y...” he tried to get out, but Annabeth put a hand on his arm. Reyna didn’t miss the weird look Nico gave the two of them, but she ignored it for the time being.

“That’s just how it’s gonna be until things play out. Goodbye, Demigods,” she spat, grabbing on to Nico and Frank and dragging them off into the hallway after the other two girls and feeling nauseous as she did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so far my update every Monday is working! Summer classes just started today though, so we'll see how this continues... In any case, this chapter concludes the party stuff. Next time around we'll see the mopey boys for a bit and a little of the Half-Bloods in their meeting, probably from Frank's perspective.
> 
> In case you're bored and want something to look at, go follow me on tumblr: spottedleafpaw.tumblr.com which is mostly fic related fandom shit, while my backup account is spaztasticeverything.tumblr.com where I post literally everything I think is fun or pretty or whatever.
> 
> Please let me know what you guys thought about this chapter! :) Comments are appreciated always.


	6. All That's Said And Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-show pow-wows and jitters run amok. Harsh words are spoken. Opportunities are at stake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to the link below for the 8tracks playlist that goes with the fic!
> 
> http://8tracks.com/spottedleafpaw/this-will-be-our-year-fic-playlist
> 
> Chapter Songs are:  
> Danse et Danse (The Halfbloods)  
> Our War (The Demigods)
> 
> Enjoy!

Frank could cut the tension in the car as he drove his band home with a knife, it was so thick. He would glance at times over at Hazel, who was riding shotgun; she seemed equally as confused as he was, which only increased his curiosity, and fretting of course. Glancing into the rearview mirror, he saw Nico sitting behind Hazel with his arms crossed and nails digging into his pasty skin, worrying his piercings between his lips out of nervous habit. Piper sat directly behind Frank, her choppy hair in her hands as she leaned forward, face covered but clearly distressed. Reyna, however, looked a level of pissed Frank had hoped to never have seen, muttering things in Spanish that didn’t sound too friendly.

Arriving at their apartment complex, he pulled the car into their parking space in the garage and cut the engine smoothly. Everyone pulled themselves stiffly out of Reyna’s vehicle and began their silent march back to the apartments themselves; Reyna led the way and so Frank assumed the meeting would be held in the girls’ place. He was a bit confused when Reyna stopped in front of his own apartment door, however, gesturing for him to unlock it which he did hurriedly. He flicked his eyes over to Hazel once more, taking in her measured expression as she went to sit on the edge of the couch, perched on the armrest. Frank sat down next to her, arm looping around her waist as her small hands gripped onto him, knuckles sticking out starkly in contrast to her dark skin.

Reyna waited for Nico and Piper to meekly plop themselves on the couch also before she sat in the armchair in front of them all, commandeering and stony-faced. A vein seemed to be pulsing at her temple, and Frank was fixated with it, half-expecting it to burst at any moment.

“As some of us may have figured out, we had our first run-in with our competition this evening,” she began, voice controlled. “The Demigods were at this party, and some of us,” her voice got hard here, “spent the evening fraternizing with the enemy!”

“Hold on, Reyna. You mean you met the guys we’re playing with next weekend?” Hazel spoke up, trying to get the fuller picture for which Frank was grateful. He was completely lost.

“Met them, defeated someone affiliated with them in beer pong, cussed them out, had to pry certain someones off of two of their guys before they jumped in bed with them... You know, the usual,” Reyna growled, glaring daggers at Piper and Nico. Frank blinked a bit, expecting his two bandmates to deny the accusations but was shocked when they rather decided to look sheepish and guilty instead.

“Wait up, Pipes and Nico were flirting with two of the Demigods?” Frank blurted out, staring at the two of them with eyes round as saucers.

“Flirting’s a strong word, I wouldn’t...” Piper began meekly, but Reyna interrupted her with a bark of laughter.

“I’m sorry, miss thoroughly-made-out-with McLean, what was that?” the feisty guitarist was on a roll, pumped full of alcohol and angry feelings. Frank had to admit that Piper’s hair looked more mussed than usual, and her lips were much puffier than the normal standard. She flushed, biting down on the inside of her cheek and turning away. “And let’s not forget how Nico got cozy with one of them too, I mean what are the chances that they had a gay drummer?” Reyna finished.

“That guy’s in the band? Wasn’t he the barista who was rude about your phone, Frank?” Hazel hissed, and Frank finally realized just where that familiar-faced elfin Latino belonged in his memory. He nodded in response to his girlfriend, and turned to stare at Nico who had the decency to look embarrassed at least.

“Sorry guys, I had no clue. I knew Leo from before... We’d been uh, running into each other at the Starbucks a lot. So don’t get bitchy just because I ran into him by chance at a party,” Nico bit back, the pink on his pale cheeks looking out of place with the smoldering frustration the rest of his body gave off at that moment.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass, those guys are now the ones we’ll be competing with for the spotlight at Elysium and we need to show them up. They’re good, maybe too good for just an upcoming band. This is one of the biggest gigs in our career because a lot of important people go to this venue, and if all they see after the show is people talking about those guys... Well, we might as well give up and call Piper’s dad after all and cheat our way into the business,” Reyna spat viciously. Frank cast a worried look over to their lead singer, and he was surprised to find her nodding along with Reyna’s words.

“It was a mistake, I wasn’t able to tell who he was either and that’s my fault. We have to come out on top for this show, so let’s pull out all the stops and put this night behind us. I’m sorry I screwed up, guys, but I won’t let these guys get in our way... I can’t afford to let our hard work go to waste,” Piper’s voice trembled a bit, and Frank felt Hazel tense a bit at his side. Nico’s eyes were glazed over and he looked rather defeated, but Reyna let out a shaky breath which seemed to blow a lot of the tension out of the room.

“Let’s just practice as hard as we can and destroy that crowd, alright?” she finished, clutching her forehead with her hand. “Now I’m going to bed before my brain falls out of my skull. Come on, girls,” she mumbled, and Piper stood up wearily to follow her. Frank stood and took Hazel into his arms, kissing the top of her head and relishing the feel of quieted emotions once more. Nico had already slunk back to his room as Frank heard the click of his door being shut; releasing Hazel slightly, he leaned down to place a sweet kiss on her lips.

“As much as I’d love to do those things you mentioned in the car earlier, I think it might be best if we just sleep this night off,” he muttered. She blushed, turning her face away from him momentarily.

“You remembered? Well, of course you did, but hey... I really did want to spend some couple time with you this evening,” she replied, reaching up to place her hand at the nape of his neck with fingers playing in his black hair.

“I’m not going anywhere, we’ll always have time,” Frank countered, smiling as he gave in to the temptation to kiss her once more. “I just feel so much frustration and bad feelings tonight that I’d thought you would want to spend some time talking to Piper or Nico...”

“Oh, Frank, you really are sweet. You’re too thoughtful,” Hazel’s eyes shone with admiration, and in turn Frank felt his heart skip a beat. “I think they need time to process everything for themselves first. Let’s just give them that.” With that, she took his hand and led him into the familiar recesses of his bedroom where they fell together softly and curled up into a sweet night’s slumber.

*

Percy was a little befuddled by the night’s events, but he refrained from asking anything of his friends until they had reached their apartment. It had been a weird night for all intents and purposes, really weird, but he still lacked an explanation from Jason and Leo who were mopier than he’d ever seen them before. Annabeth looked rather put out, perhaps from losing the beer pong game but mostly from whatever it was that Reyna girl had said to her about their band. Standing in front of the sink watching the water flow steadily into a cup, he was mesmerized only briefly before turning the tap off and bringing it into the living room to his girlfriend, who shakily took the drink and gulped some of it down.

“Alright, you two, spill. I need to make an inventory of everything in my head so I can plan our next move,” Annabeth spoke, speech a little slurred by the beer but still coherent.

“What’s there to tell? I’ve been trying to flirt with this really hot guy who kept coming into my work and I saw him at the party and took a chance, almost got to seal the deed, and then crazy shit starts blowing up and apparently he’s playing against us at Elysium with his band or something based on what that one bitchy girl was yelling at us? I knew he liked music, never that he was in a band... Hell, there’s so much I don’t know about him but I still want him so badly...” Leo’s rant only half made sense to Percy, who was still a little lost when it came to this rival band thing.

“Did Reyna tell you why they were so focused on showing us up at the gig?” Percy asked Annabeth, who shook her head but cracked her knuckles threateningly.

“They probably feel threatened, which is good. It means they view our skill as something of a higher level of music, good enough to compete with their own. That girl, Piper McLean? Her father’s a famous actor, as we all should know, so the fact that her band isn’t as big as you’d expect with connections like that definitely means something. They’re probably worried about us showing them up at the gig, taking the spotlight they’ve been coveting or something along those lines... Well, I won’t have it! Nothing less than even better than your best, boys, and that’s final!” Annabeth went from calculating to vicious in the span of a minute, and it reminded Percy of just how fierce his girlfriend could be. He began sweating a bit as he thought of what he had to tell her later on, the reason he was so freaked out earlier at the party...

“I can’t believe this, out of all the parties in New York...” Jason mumbled before letting his head fall into his hands, grabbing fistfuls of blond hair and grumpily stamping his foot. “Dammit! The one time I find a girl I like, and she’s untouchable! There’s no way I can fix this.... How am I gonna face her at Elysium? I’m pathetic!” he continued, and Percy worried his friend might over-worry himself into spontaneous combustion.

“Dude, take a deep breath and go sleep it off. You too, Leo. We’ve got time to work on our stuff and make it so kickass that all anyone will be talking about after our show is well, us!” Percy’s motivational speeches could use some work, but Annabeth seemed to appreciate the effort as she smiled at him once he finished speaking.

As the two boys shuffled off to their room looking melancholic and defeated, Percy now was left with the debate in his mind to tell Annabeth what had happened at the party now or perhaps wait until she was in a better mood. Mulling it over while staring at the scowl on his girlfriend’s face, he decided to hold his tongue for the time being. What had happened in fact was this:

_Percy had left in order to make Annabeth her mixed drink, resorting to the kitchen as it was closer than the table in the living room. Walking towards a stack of solo cups, he reached for one and spotted some rum right next to the fridge and so he made a beeline for it. Just as he was about to pick up the bottle, a small freckled hand beat him to it. Squinting a bit, he turned his gaze to the owner of the arm and nearly had a heart attack._

_“Percy? Percy Jackson?” a startled Rachel Elizabeth Dare exclaimed, a grin lighting up her features and she reached out to envelop him in a hug. Her arms enclosing around his waist, Percy returned the hug out of shock and very weakly; he was in panic mode at this point._

_“Rachel? Uh, what’re you doing here?” he stammered, distractedly checking towards the location where his girlfriend Annabeth was duking it out playing beer pong now solo style against some girl. He could see the events through the gap between the cabinets and the countertop in the kitchen which connected to the dining area. The only problem was that if Annabeth looked through the same gap, she might see what was transpiring just then also. Rachel Elizabeth Dare had in fact been his girlfriend for a time, before he had gotten together with Annabeth (although he had secretly always harbored a crush on the blonde, Rachel was nice for practice before he and Annabeth became a couple._

_“No, ‘how’s it been?’ or ‘so good to see you!’, Percy?” Rachel clicked her tongue against her teeth, fiery red hair glowing under the blacklights. He simply shrugged awkwardly, and she laughed. “I go to Rochester, my dad insisted,” she explained, unscrewing the cap on the rum bottle and pouring some into his cup as he stared at her dumbly for another minute. “I live in this complex though, that was my one condition. I wanted to go to NYU so I picked one filled with people who went there... Proximity thing, I guess,” she further added, blinking her large eyes at him. “How’s your band?”_

_“Uh, we’re good. Got a couple good shows in the past, one’s coming up at Elysium soon that we’re excited about... Listen, Rachel, it was great to see you but I need to make this drink and get back over there...” he stammered, worrying that Annabeth would turn her head and see them talking at any moment. Rachel gave him a wry smile, taking the drink from his hands with extra care to brush their fingers together; she pulled some pineapple juice from the fridge and mixed it in with the rum, then lifted it to her lips to take a sip. Her eyes never broke contact with his, and Percy gulped._

_“Tastes perfect. Hope you like it,” she spoke softly, pressing the cup back into his hands. Percy thought it unfortunate that he’d be delivering the drink to Annabeth instead, since the rivalry between the two girls (although invisible for the most part on the surface) still ran deep. Annabeth sorely felt that she missed out on being Percy’s girlfriend the entire time he was with Rachel, and always considered the redhead her biggest threat for Percy’s affections. For Rachel, it seemed that she was hurt mostly by the fact that despite enjoying their short relationship while it lasted, deep down she knew of his feelings for Annabeth and ultimately their time together ended precisely over this._

_“Thanks, Rachel,” he muttered with a half-smile, turning to leave._ If the music hadn’t been so loud, he might have heard her final words to him and perhaps changed his mind about not telling Annabeth immediately...

*

Nico was having a bad day. One of the perks of his everyday routines was going in to Starbucks in order to get his coffee and work on his solo music. Ever since Reyna’s freak out after the party that weekend, Nico had been forced to go with her to the coffee shop on campus to get a cup of mediocre, un-flavored, slightly-burnt and definitely lukewarm coffee while she monitored him with watchful eyes. He tried to not let it show that he was disappointed; seeing Leo at the shop every day, he had to admit, filled his chest with a funny sensation, as if his lungs were full and fit to burst, heart pumping blood at an unusually fast rate. Every time he thought of Leo now, he could feel the heat of that caramel skin and warm ghosting of upturned lips near his own... Nico sank his head into his folded arms on the table, large headphones slipping to the side a bit as he groaned softly.

“Dude, you need to get a grip,” he muttered, pulling himself upwards to fixate his dark gaze on his laptop, glowing invitingly for some of his attention.

“Tell me about it,” Piper appeared beside him, a pastry clutched in her hand with a large bite already taken out of it. She sat down next to him, glancing over at Reyna who was sitting a few chairs over. Their guitarist was quite aware of the two’s feelings of awkwardness towards her as of late, so she kept her distance while still remaining near enough to observe them (or babysit, as she would call it when she thought no one could hear or understand her). “How’s the track going? You think we can have it done by Elysium?”

“Probably. Not sure how the others will feel about it, though, the lyrics are pretty telling Pipes,” he said softly, making eye contact with her and scratching his hair underneath the black beanie he wore. She flushed a bit; they had teamed up to write the lyrics to their newest collaboration, after Nico and Hazel had hammered out the keyboard details which were extremely prominent in this piece. As they worked, it was an unspoken understanding that formed between the two of them as to what, or who, this song was about.

“Doesn’t matter, it’s a good song and I think it’ll be great to show how diverse we are at shows. Let me know as soon as you finish it, okay? I’ll listen to a bit of it now if you don’t mind so you can work on it after my suggestions.”

“So demanding, fine.” Nico was teasing her, but it didn’t really reach his eyes. He handed her the headphones and she slipped them on, chewing on her pastry thoughtfully as she listened to what he had so far. At the end of the song, she pointed out a few things she thought he needed to fix and then stood up to leave for class; pausing a moment, she stared at his untouched cup of coffee.

“You gonna drink that?” she asked, eyes scanning him with a scrutiny that he knew pierced through every unspoken lie he would have told in explanation. Piper was an expert at understanding others and their heartache, as she could see relationships unfolded as clearly as crystal.

“No. It’s not the same,” he replied softly, handing her the coffee that held no heat for him whatsoever.

The weekend was approaching fast, and he would see Leo again.

*

“Leo, stop looking over there.”

“Jason, c’mon! You know you’re dying to know if she’s seen us!”

“No, Leo, I just want to play this show and get out of here. If they go on after us, I’ll probably explode.”

“Why, cus you know it means she’ll probably be watching during our set?” Percy appeared with his bass guitar strapped to his back, carrying the amp head from Will’s van into the venue with him.

“If you let them affect your performance tonight, you’re dead to me,” Annabeth, in her full managerial persona, flounced past them with a clipboard in hand which contained their set list. Her tone was sing-songy but menacing, and Jason visibly shuddered.

Elysium was appropriately named, as the venue had everything a band could want at its disposal: A large stage with elevated platforms for the drum kit and other equipment, more lights and settings for those than could be imagined, a spacious band-only room located on the upper level of the club, with a large one-way window that allowed those inside to see out and watch the show, an ample bar situated in the corner, and a huge dance floor in front of the stage. To top it off, the upper level of the club came with a railed balcony type area that extended around all three sides of the building facing the stage; a few tables and booths were scattered here and there, with a smaller bar in the farthest angle (near the entrance to the employees only hallway which could lead to the band-only room as well) and on warm nights, the roof could be extended to open up to the stars.

When Will Solace, the owner of the rental practice rooms where the Demigods stored their equipment and practiced daily for two hours, heard about their show, he offered to drive them with the spacious van he owned as a part of his business in exchange for a VIP pass to the show with them; the boys had immediately accepted, since the alternative was getting a series of taxis to lug all their equipment to the venue and that was looking like a nightmare. Will was helping them offload all the heavy stuff towards the backstage area behind the stage before running off to get a drink; Annabeth had immediately snagged the owner of the club to schmooze him up and figure out the set duration and general setup (and more specifically, who would be the first headliner.)

Jason had butterflies all evening imagining seeing Piper again after this week of torture that he had spent simply picturing it... Now, it was all too close of a reality. She and her band had arrived and were supposedly camped out in the band-only room as their stuff was already piled up in the back. They were earlier too, which might be a point in their favor or to their disadvantage: the club owner might have decided that the first band to get there would also be the first band to take the stage. Leo nudged him back to reality quite literally, probably to say something else along the lines of his usual snark, but Percy interrupted him.

“Leave the dude alone, Leo. We need our lead singer and guitarist fully capable of both those skills before we go on tonight,” Percy lamented, glaring at their drummer who was most definitely about to say something unhelpful in his eyes.

“I’m just trying to tell you, Jason, she’s coming this way!” Leo hissed, before grabbing his snare drum under his arm and bolting to the back where the other equipment was almost completely stored. Percy gave him a pitying look before also abandoning him. Jason steeled himself before he turned around to face her: she had come from the staircase that led to the upper level, and when he caught sight of her outfit for the night he couldn’t help but feel his nerve wither. Her chopped hair was lined with multiple feathers and beads, intricate braids and some temporary silvery colored streaks. Her eyes were covered in a shimmery silver face painted mask across the bridge of her nose slightly, with some tribal looking designs extending onto her cheeks and along her jawline in a mixed palette of blues and reds and browns. She wore tight leggings depicting a dark starry galaxy pattern across them, converse high-tops in silver, and a silky shoulder-exposing top that hugged her form in the front, but extended longer in the back. She looked ethereal and stunning.

“Uh, hi Piper. You’re here too,” he stumbled a bit with his words, gripping his guitar a little tighter as he looked at her and they locked eyes.

“Oh, come on, Jason, you knew we were competing for the headliner spot before the... Well. What happened was a mistake and certainly won’t happen again,” Piper crossed her arms and gave him a defiant look that barely masked her flushed cheeks. “I didn’t know that you were from the Demigods, but... ugh, that’s not why... Well I came here to let you know that we’re playing first. Management’s idea. And after your set, our solo artist might play a set. Or was it the other way around? I don’t know. Either way, you’re playing in between, in the middle,” she seemed to be getting increasingly more flustered and couldn’t look him in the eye. She was looking anywhere but into his eyes, while he seemed to be desperately trying to get a glimpse of those mesmerizing kaleidoscopes that he had been seeing all week, despite knowing he shouldn’t. Her awkwardness was starting to seep over to him, and to dissipate it he opened his mouth to speak, but as if like a ghost their synth player, Nico, materialized behind her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s go, we’re on in 15 and we need to sound check before they let people in,” he mumbled, dragging her away and shooting a deer-in-the-headlights look at a person behind Jason. He whirled around to see Leo emerging from the back, base drum clutched in both arms, a mixed expression of longing and fear on his face.

“Come on Leo, let’s go watch their stupid set,” Jason muttered, grabbing an armful of mic stands from the back of the van before Will closed it up. He deposited them alongside the rest of their gear, and before he had time to breathe Annabeth was upon them, dragging Percy along with her. She looked furious.

“Management somehow thinks it’s an awesome idea to put you guys in the middle of TWO of their shows. I’m working on getting something fixed so that you can come back for an encore at the end, but don’t breathe a word of this, not even to each other, until I finalize it. The Half-Bloods are going on first with their solo artist to warm up the public, then you guys are on, and then they get to come back for their full set. I won’t HAVE it! I have a backup setlist I’m fixing for you. Jason, you’re okay with doing some of the newer material right? We need everything we’ve got!” she spoke in a whirlwind, half-whispered, and half frantic screeching. Even Percy looked as if he’d never seen her this riled up.

“Um, I mean, it’s not all finished yet but if we need to tap into some of it...” Jason stuttered, frightened at the prospect of using material that didn’t have the ‘complete’ stamp of approval. Annabeth shook her head, wavy blonde hair flying.

“We have to! You don’t have the option anymore! Do you know who Will Solace’s uncle is? It’s Apollo Solace! Will could send out some videos to his uncle of your show tonight, and that means everything right now. It’s a trump card I didn’t even find out about until earlier tonight when I was chatting with him during the load-in. No one knows about this either, so keep your traps shut!” she hissed, glaring at Leo for that final statement.

“Apollo Solace as in the huge music producer? Former lead singer of the Lyres?” Percy muttered, trying to be quiet but his excitement coming through anyways. Annabeth nodded vigorously, and then smacked the three of them with her clipboard individually.

“Yes! Now get moving, you need to set up what you can on the stage and get the sound engineer sorted out before they open the doors. Hurry!” she shoved them towards the stage and then promptly bustled off to go schmooze with the owner some more, most likely to get them that encore they so needed at this point.

Jason steeled himself before grabbing his guitar pedals (which were sealed in a case for protection), his mic stand, and climbed up the stairs towards the stage. He placed his equipment on the edge, not wanting anything to get in the way, before moving over towards the booth on the other end of the stage where the sound engineer was obscured by the wall and curtain.

“You lead guitar?” the guy muttered, messing with settings on his switchboard while listening to Nico set up his extensive synth collection through one ear of a headset.

“Of the second band to play. Also lead vocals.” Jason marveled at how experienced this guy seemed, and he left him a set of instructions for his pedals and equipment once it was his time to plug in after Nico did his opening act. As Jason walked back across the stage, his heart squeezed painfully as he saw Piper setting up her own mic stand and wondered if she was to be featured with some of Nico’s show; Jason avoided looking at her, and instead his eyes landed on Leo who was setting up his drum kit (although most of it had been provided by the venue, some pieces Leo had to bring himself) on the raised platform in the middle of the stage.

“You guys don’t have a drummer right? So I’m just gonna set up now,” Leo called over to Nico, who was at the platform to the right of where the drum set was. Nico visibly stiffened, and nodded in response, continuing his tweaking and computer adjustments. Jason bit his lip as he saw the dejected look on Leo’s face.

“5 minutes ‘till doors!” someone in the locale called out, and Jason jumped a little before rushing over towards the steps that would lead him down to the backstage again. Eyes adjusting to the darkness, he realized that now Percy was not alone back there and the feisty Latina guitarist was there with him, eyes flaring and arms crossed. Jason’s presence was not welcomed, it seemed, and Percy gave him another apologetic look before dashing off to set up his own requirements with the sound guy.

“No funny ideas, guy,” the girl, Reyna was her name if he remembered correctly, spat out suddenly. “Piper doesn’t need you to mess with her tonight. It’s important to her, more important than your dick, so keep it under control or else.” Jason narrowed his eyes at her and tried to control his face from getting too red.

“Hey, this night is just as important to us, maybe even more so than you! We came from nothing, and we want to show this place what we’re capable of. You have big-shot McLean to back you, if anything doesn’t work out, so shut the hell up about it not being a big deal for us. We’re just as good as you, got it?” he retorted with a venom he normally never displayed, surprising even himself. At first she seemed taken aback, maybe even a little impressed; when he took a shot at Piper’s dad, which he knew was a low blow, he had expected her to glare or look relatively anger, which is how her face had twisted briefly as he spoke. However, just as the words left his lips her glare turned into a triumphant smirk, and she uncrossed her arms to place them on her hips before speaking again.

“Maybe not ‘just as good’, hun.” Her eyes had left him to focus on something behind him; he whirled around to see Piper, frozen on the steps of the stage, staring at him with a horrified and hurt expression on her face. Reyna began to walk past him, brushing against his form on her way to her bandmate. “Not bad, Jason Grace,” she murmured with a dark laugh. “You’ve shown me your true colors.”

Now alone in the backstage, lights dimmed, Jason clenched his fists and desired nothing more than to punch something until his knuckles bled. Why did her expression of hurt seem to pierce him so harshly? The sound of doors opening and hundreds of eager feet pounding in to the venue shook him out of his sick feeling, and he turned to see Leo and Percy descending the steps. From his position he saw Reyna give Piper a hug before leaping directly off the stage and walking back over to the steps which led to the upper level band-room.

“We have to kill it tonight, guys. We just... There’s too much riding on this show.” Jason was startled by Percy’s firm admission, but after looking at the two of his bandmates in such states, Jason figured Percy thought that if they did anything less than spectacularly tonight, it might crush their spirits. “Promise me we’ll kill it, guys,” Percy continued, ocean eyes stormy. Jason and Leo looked at one another before with almost identical sighs, their performance masks were on.

“We got this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god it's been a while. I've been dealing with severe depression/anxiety and family issues, on top of school and 3 jobs. So I had to cut worrying about my fics for a while, but inspiration hit me to write more on this one and I didn't want to ignore it. Here;s to hoping this means I get chapter 7 cranked out soon! 
> 
> Comments, predictions, complaints, ideas are all welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> Okay guys, I’m back! I needed to start with something fresh in order to get back into the swing of writing after falling into a sort of break that honestly I don’t know where it came from... Perhaps I was just too tired to even care about anything and thus I lapsed into a writer’s block?
> 
> This story is going to be fun, though, and hopefully turn out to be one of the better college/band PJO universe AU’s :) Here’s to hoping, I guess?
> 
> Accompanying this song will be an 8tracks account with varying songs for you guys to listen to that I have in mind for each band... Pairings are also set already, and I hope you’ll all be pleased with the way that it turns out.
> 
> The instruments were chosen for pretty obvious reasons, though if you’d like more explanation please leave me a comment and I’ll expand on it all. If there is anything at all that you want more details on, I’ll probably get to it eventually but I like knowing via comments too! I’ll reveal everybody’s major or what they plan on studying and backstories as the story progresses... I think so far we only have Percy and Annabeth’s explicitly stated.


End file.
